LONDON COUNCILS EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND BOROUGH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME 2016-2018

Application Prospectus 9th December 2016 Deadline for applications: 12 noon, 23rd January 2017

www.londoncouncils.gov.uk

# Contents

01. **Introduction** ........................................................................................................... 3\
    The European Structural Investment Funds ................................................................. 3\
    ESF Investment Priorities ............................................................................................ 4

02. **Project Specifications** ............................................................................................ 7\
    Specification 1 - Haringey ............................................................................................ 7\
    Specification 2 - Hounslow: Digital, Media, Tech and Creative Skills Project .......... 15\
    Specification 3 - Merton ............................................................................................. 26\
    Specification 4 Wandsworth – Older Workers Employment Network ....................... 32

03. **Participant Target Groups** ..................................................................................... 35\
    Core Project Requirements ......................................................................................... 36

04. **Project activities, outputs and results** .................................................................. 38\
    Outputs and Results for payment ............................................................................... 39

05. **Added value** .......................................................................................................... 42

06. **Partnership working** .............................................................................................. 44

07. **Submitting an application** ..................................................................................... 45

08. **Horizontal Principles (Formerly Cross Cutting Themes)** .................................... 57

09. **Monitoring and reporting on your project** ............................................................ 61

10. **Financial information** .......................................................................................... 62

11. **Publicity arrangements** ....................................................................................... 63

12. **Appeals** ............................................................................................................... 66

13. **Payment arrangements** ....................................................................................... 67

14. **Contacts** .............................................................................................................. 68

15. **ESF Programme Guidance Documents** ............................................................... 70

Annex A .......................................................................................................................... 71

1. Introduction

Welcome to the prospectus for the London Councils European Social Fund (ESF) Borough Programme 2016-2018.

London Councils’ ESF Borough programme is part of the European Structural and Investment funds (ESIF) Growth strategy¹ for England in 2014-2020.

The European Structural Investment Funds

The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs) are the European Union's main funding programmes for supporting growth and jobs across EU member states. They form a small but important part of the UK Government’s overall growth activity.

In England, for 2014 to 2020 the programmes consist of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Social Fund (ESF) and part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). These have been brought together into a single Growth programme with individual operational programmes aligned to maximise support for jobs and growth.

The Growth Programme is delivered across England’s 39 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas, each of which has an ESIF Strategy to support local delivery. The £6 billion funds within the Growth Programme have been notionally distributed to LEP areas. ERDF can fund activity such as support to SMEs, ICT, Low Carbon and research and innovation. ESF supports employment, skills and social inclusion.

The London 2014-2020 ESIF Strategy² sets out the key areas for ESF investment in London and aligns to the London Enterprise Panel’s (LEP’s) three skills and employment themes: promoting sustainable employment and progression outcomes, ensuring individuals and employers are better informed to drive the skills and employment system and engaging with London’s businesses to help drive growth in the Capital.

ESF in London is managed by the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) European Programmes Management Unit (EPMU) who has been designated by Government as an Intermediate Body for ESF and ERDF.

The LEP, through the GLA, London Councils and other local partners, have developed a range of ESF provision to meet local needs. There are five ESF Co-Financing Organisations for 2014-20 in London. They are:

- Greater London Authority
- Skills Funding Agency
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Big Lottery
- National Offender Management Service (NOMS)

¹ https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/461596/ESF_Operational_Programme_2014_2020_V.01.pdf ² https://lep.london/publication/european-funding-strategy-2014-20 ESF Investment Priorities

The 2014-2020 ESF Programme has two main Priority Axes, each with a number of Investment Priorities:

**Priority Axis 1 – Inclusive Labour Markets**

**Priority 1.1** Access to Employment for Job-Seekers and Inactive People - Improving the employability and skills of the unemployed and economically inactive people

**Priority 1.2** Sustainable Integration of Young People - Employment and Skills activities targeted at young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET

**Priority 1.3** Youth Employment Initiative - This will focus on helping young people, particularly those not in education, employment or training (NEET) to participate in the labour market and learning in areas eligible for the Youth Employment Initiative.

**Priority 1.4** Active Inclusion - To address the root causes of poverty which creates barriers to work so more people move closer or into employment

**Priority Axis 2 – Skills for Growth**

**Priority 2.1** Enhancing Equal Access to Lifelong Learning

**Priority 2.2** Improving the Labour Market Relevance of Education and Training Systems

For more details please see the 2014-20 Operational Programme at [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-social-fund-operational-programme-2014-to-2020](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-social-fund-operational-programme-2014-to-2020)

**The London Councils’ ESF Borough Employment Programme - Priority 1.1 – Access to Employment for Job-Seekers and Inactive People**

The London Councils ESF Borough Employment Programme 2016-18 will focus on delivering the strategic objectives of ESF Priority 1.1 – Access to employment for Job-Seekers and Inactive People.

This Programme will specifically fund projects that will assist individuals who are disadvantaged to tackle their barriers to work and sustainable employment. Such activities should include help to identify the barriers individuals face in moving into work (for example; confidence, lack of recent work experience, basic skills, job seeking and job-related skills, or other material barriers like debt) and working with them to tackle these barriers.

For this Programme, London Councils and the participating boroughs of, Haringey, Hounslow, Merton and Wandsworth welcome applications for grants from organisations and partnerships to deliver projects strategically aligned with ESF Priority 1.1 and can show links with other programmes supporting these Priorities. This is part of a wider London Councils ESF Programme. The projects (listed in Table 1 below) should be innovative and add value to the mainstream provision.

The Programme will focus on people that are economically inactive and long term unemployed. In this way, the London Councils ESF Borough Employment Programme 2016-2018 can help the London boroughs contribute towards national indicator targets for employment and poverty by targeting workless people.

This Prospectus sets out the borough specific projects as well as the criteria and conditions for potential providers applying for this grant funding.

Projects will be funded between the dates specified on each individual specification. Please note that projects will start no earlier than 12 March 2017.

Table 1. London Councils ESF Borough Employment Programme 2016-2018 Projects

| Borough(s)/Consortium | Project Name | Funding Value | |-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------|---------------| | Haringey | Single Borough Employment Project | £462,500 | | Hounslow | Digital Media, Technical and Creative Skills | £175,400 | | Merton | Single Borough Employment Project | £337,533 | | Wandsworth | Older Workers Employment Network | £138,750 | | **Total** | | **£1,114,183**|

- Please note: The value of each project may potentially increase if sufficient borough funding and ESF funding is available. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS

2. Project Specifications

Specification 1 - Haringey

Introduction to the borough

Haringey is one of London's 33 boroughs, located in the north of the capital and more than 11 square miles in area. The borough has levels of deprivation that are characteristic of many Inner London boroughs, illustrated by the fact that 19% of its lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) are amongst the 10% most deprived in England compared to 6% of LSOAs across London as a whole.

This extends to labour market deprivation where Haringey has levels of employment that are generally lower than those in London and England and also disproportionate numbers of people claiming out of work benefits.

This disproportionality also has a geographic dimension with 63% of people claiming out of work benefits living in the Tottenham parliamentary constituency.

Haringey Council is committed to developing and growing the local economy, and in 2015 published an Economic Development and Growth Strategy that sets out some long-term aims to achieve the following by 2030:

A Fully Employed Borough, by which we mean:

- 75% of Haringey’s working age population is in work.
- Residents’ full time earnings are in line with London averages for bottom quartile and median earners.
- The proportion of working age residents qualified to NVQ Levels 3 and 4 is increased from 65% (2013 figures) to 70%.

A More Dynamic Borough, by which we mean:

- The number of jobs in Haringey has increased by 20,000 from the 2011 London Plan baseline position.
- The profile of Haringey-based jobs changes so that retail and public sector employment are less dominant, and there is a better range of jobs, including a greater proportion of jobs in more highly-skilled sectors, such as sustainable technology, digital design and skilled/craft manufacturing.
- The number of jobs per square metre of employment land has increased by 20%, reflecting a shift to more intensive and productive employment.

The Council is also committed to regenerating Tottenham and has in place a number of ambitious plans aimed at creating more than 5,000 jobs and 10,000 new homes, as well as nearly 1 million square feet of new employment space by 2025. In March 2014, the Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) for Tottenham was published and set out seven key changes needed for Tottenham to achieve its potential:

3 Indices of Deprivation 2015: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/indices-of-deprivation-2015 4 Out of work benefits, August 2015: www.nomisweb.co.uk 5 The Economic Development & Growth Strategy can be accessed from: http://www.haringey.gov.uk/business/economic-regeneration/economic-regeneration-growth-strategy 6 The Strategic Regeneration Framework for Tottenham can be accessed from: http://www.haringey.gov.uk/regeneration/tottenham/tottenham-regeneration

1. World-class education and training – including new schools, better access to apprenticeships and more Tottenham young people attending university.
2. Improved access to jobs and business opportunities – attracting major investment and encouraging local business growth to boost employment.
3. A different kind of housing market – improving existing homes and building new, highquality homes to meet demand at a range of prices and tenures.
4. A fully connected community with even better transport links – continuing to improve rail, Tube and bus links, including making the case for Crossrail 2, as well as opening up Tottenham to more walking and cycling routes.
5. A strong and healthy community – improved healthcare facilities, reduced crime and strong social networks for young people.
6. Great places – putting Tottenham’s character and heritage centre-stage while creating better public spaces to meet, shop and have fun.
7. The right investment and quality development – building partnerships and securing money to achieve these priorities with a focus on high quality design. The Council and the Greater London Authority (GLA), through the Mayor’s Regeneration Fund for Tottenham, have been bringing forward investment to help local people into employment, in line with the ambitions set out in the Tottenham SRF, and the activities commissioned through this specification will be one of a series of projects in place to support the borough’s regeneration ambitions. In March 2015, (GLA funded) Haringey Employment Support Project (HESP) was launched, which aims to support unemployed and economically inactive people into sustained employment, and people in low-paid work to progress in work. HESP will be delivered until March 2017 so there will be some crossover with the project that is commissioned through this specification. As such, the delivery provider(s) for this project will need to work with the HESP provider to ensure that, for the crossover period, activities are complementary. The Council has also had a historic commitment to tacking worklessness in the borough and has in place an in-house employment service, the Haringey Employment and Skills Team (HEST). This project will be expected to work in partnership with HEST, where appropriate. In addition, this project will be expected to work in partnership with current and future providers delivering other employment projects in the borough, where appropriate. Strategy Below are links to information and a number of documents that set out the strategic approach to economic development across Haringey: Corporate Plan 2015-2018 http://www.haringey.gov.uk/local-democracy/policies-and-strategies/corporate-plan-2015-18 Early Help Strategy http://www.haringey.gov.uk/sites/haringeygovuk/files/early_help_strategy.pdf Economic Development and Growth Strategy http://www.haringey.gov.uk/business/economic-regeneration/economic-regeneration-growthstrategy

Education Excellence Policy http://www.haringey.gov.uk/sites/haringeygovuk/files/education_excellence_policy.pdf

8

Population

Haringey’s population, according to latest estimates by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), is 267,500(^7). The population in Haringey has grown by 28% over the past 20 years and the Greater London Authority (GLA) projects further growth to take the population to over 296,000 by 2041(^8).

Some 71% of people living in Haringey are aged 16-64, which is higher than the English average of 63%. Haringey also has a relatively young population with 52% of people being aged 20-49 compared to 41% of people across England.

Haringey is also home to a significant ethnic minority population(^9) with 65% of residents coming from such a background compared to 55% in London and 20% in England. The main ethnic minority groups are:

- Other White – 23%
- Black African – 9%
- Black Caribbean – 7%(^10)

Labour market

Worklessness has historically been a significant issue in Haringey. In the year to September 2015, 71% of the population aged 16-64 in Haringey was in employment, lower than the London and England rates of 72% and 74% respectively(^11). The European Commission’s Europe 2020 initiative is aimed at achieving a 75% ‘full employment’ rate across the European Union by 2020(^12). If that is to be achieved in Haringey then an additional 8,100 residents will need to find employment.

______________________________________________________________________

(^7) 2014 mid-year population estimates: [https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp)

(^8) GLA 2014 Round Demographic Projections: [https://files.datapress.com/london/dataset/2014-round-population-projections/borough_SHLAA_DCLG_long_term_2014md.xlsx](https://files.datapress.com/london/dataset/2014-round-population-projections/borough_SHLAA_DCLG_long_term_2014md.xlsx)

(^9) Definition of ethnic minority is the non-White British population.

(^10) 2011 Census: [https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp)

(^11) Annual Population Survey: [www.nomisweb.co.uk](http://www.nomisweb.co.uk)

(^12) Further information about the Europe 2020 initiative can be found at: [http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm](http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm) Some 7% of people aged 16-64 in Haringey meet the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of unemployment(^\\text{13}), higher than the London and England rates of 6% and 5% respectively.

Haringey has a high number of people claiming out of work benefits(^\\text{14}) with 11% (20,000 people) of residents aged 16-64 claiming such a benefit, at August 2015, higher than the London and England rates, which both currently stand at 9%. The two biggest out of work benefits claimant groups are people claiming the Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)/Incapacity Benefit (IB) and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), who together make up 85% of all people claiming out of work benefits.

At August 2015, 7% (12,360 people) of the population aged 16-64 in Haringey was claiming ESA/IB, higher than the London and England rates of 5% and 6% respectively.

At January 2016, 2% (4,577 people) of Haringey’s population aged 16-64 was claiming JSA, on par with the comparable rates across London and England(^\\text{15}).

Youth unemployment is a national issue with significant economic and social costs. An unemployed young person is more likely to:

- Be unemployed and welfare dependent in later life with the average young unemployed person spending an extra two months per year out of work by their late twenties.
- Earn £1,800-£3,300 less per year by their early thirties.
- Be affected by mental and physical issues.
- Get involved in anti-social behaviour(^\\text{16}).

In Haringey, 3% (660 people) of young people aged 18-24 claim JSA, higher than the respective London and England rates (both 2%)(^\\text{17}).

At December 2015, 4% (241 people) of young people aged 16-19 in Haringey were classified as being not in education, employment or training (NEET)(^\\text{18}), higher than the London rate of 3% and on par with the England rate. The education, employment or training status of 19% (1,567 people) of young people aged 16-19 is unknown, higher than the London rate of 10% and the England rate of 8%(^\\text{19}).

Haringey is committed to tackling child poverty and, as part of this, increasing parental employment. According to figures from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), at August 2011, 32% of children live in a low income family(^\\text{20}), compared to rates of 27% in London and 20% in England(^\\text{21}).

______________________________________________________________________

(^{13}) Somebody is defined as being ILO unemployed if: they have actively looked for work in the last four weeks and are available to start work in the next two weeks; or they are out of work but have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next two weeks.

(^{14}) Out of work benefits include: Job Seekers Allowance, Employment & Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Income Support and Pension Credit (where the claimant is under State Pension age).

(^{15}) ONS monthly claimant count data: [www.nomisweb.co.uk](http://www.nomisweb.co.uk)

(^{16}) Source: ACEVO Commission on Youth Unemployment, 2012: [http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/publications/other/youthunemployment.pdf](http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/publications/other/youthunemployment.pdf)

(^{17}) See note 10.

(^{18}) Adjusted NEET figures

(^{19}) NEET figures taken from the North London Client Caseload Information System

(^{20}) Definition of a low income family is one that is in receipt of Child Tax Credit where the reported income is less than 60% of the median income or in receipt of Income Support or (Income-Based) JSA

(^{21}) HMRC child poverty data: [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-children-in-low-income-families-local-measure](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-children-in-low-income-families-local-measure) Over the period January to December 2014, there were 72,000 households with at least one person aged 16-64 across Haringey. Some 53% (44,000 households) of these households had at least one adult not in work, higher than the London and England rates of 49% and 45% respectively. These households were home to 34,000 children under 16, representing 59% of all children living in Haringey\\textsuperscript{22}.

Low educational attainment and low skills levels is a major national problem and goes some way to explaining why productivity in the UK still lags behind other industrialised countries. In London, just under 50% of jobs are currently filled by workers with NVQ level 4 and above (degree level and above) qualifications. GLA Economics projections show that by 2036 the demand for ordinary and higher degrees will have increased by 800,000, meaning that 53% of jobs will require such a qualification level; over this same time period the proportion of jobs with no qualifications will have fallen to less than 5%\\textsuperscript{23}.

Locally, low skills amongst residents increase the chances of them being uncompetitive in the labour market. It will be important for this project to contribute to increasing the skill levels of participants as part of a pre-work and in-work support package.

Over the period January to December 2014, 46% of people aged 16-64 living in Haringey had a NVQ level 4 or above qualification, lower than the London rate (46%), but higher than the England (36%) rate. Conversely, some 19% of people aged 16-64 in Haringey had low (NVQ level 1 or below) or no qualifications. While this is lower than the England rate (21%), it is higher than the London rate of 16%\\textsuperscript{24}.

Haringey is characterised by its large micro business population. Some 84% of businesses in the borough employ less than 5 people compared to 80% in London and 77% in England. At the other end of the spectrum, 0.3% businesses in Haringey employ 100 or more people compared to 1% in both London and England\\textsuperscript{25}.

There are currently 61,300 jobs across Haringey with the top 5 employment sectors being:

- Public admin, education and health – 26%
- Retail – 20%
- Financial and other business services – 18%
- Accommodation and food services – 8%
- Transport storage – 7%\\textsuperscript{26}

However, supporting local people into employment should not be restricted to jobs located in Haringey. The 68,100 jobs in the borough represent only around 1% of the total number of jobs available in London; also, in terms of jobs density, there are only 45 jobs for every 100 people (45/100) aged 16-64 in Haringey, compared to ratios of 93/100 in London and 80/100 in England. Therefore this project will also aim to help residents to access jobs outside of Haringey as well as within the borough.

\\textsuperscript{22} Workless households for regions across the UK, 2014: \\url{http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-414274} \\textsuperscript{23} GLA Economics – London labour market projections: \\url{https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/business-and-economy/business-and-economy-publications/london-labour-market-projections} \\textsuperscript{24} Source: \\url{https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp} \\textsuperscript{25} ONS UK Business: Activity, Size and Location, 2015: \\url{http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/uk-business/2015/index.html} \\textsuperscript{26} Source: \\url{https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp} Project Specification

The project will be expected to support a **minimum of 115** people in Haringey to achieve 26 (out of 32) weeks sustained employment by December 2018. The project will be delivered through one provider (or one lead organisation, where the successful project is being delivered in partnership with other organisations).

The project will be expected to effectively target and engage with people furthest from the labour market by offering personalised and tailored support to help them into employment and progress in work. A specific focus will be placed on the following target groups that have been identified as having the highest levels of labour market deprivation:

| Target Group | Minimum Percentage of Participants | |--------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------| | Parents (including lone parents) | At least 25% | | Women | At least 50% | | Young people (aged 19-24 and under) | At least 20% | | People with a health condition or disability | At least 10% | | Ethnic minorities | At least 50% |

In addition to these target groups all participants must be either long term **unemployed** or **economically inactive**.

The project will aim to complement existing provision so in **all cases** participants **cannot** be already on a mainstream employment programme, such as the Work Programme.

Effective engagement of participants will be seen as a key element of this ESF project. As a result, successful bidders will be expected to offer support from a range of public and community venues across Haringey, including (but not limited to):

- Children’s centres
- Community centres
- Customer service centres
- GP surgeries
- Housing offices
- Jobcentres
- Libraries
- Schools

In addition, delivery partners will need to set out how they plan to effectively engage with employers to source appropriate employment opportunities for participants, and to help people in low paid employment to progress.

The project will be expected to work closely with the existing and future employment initiatives in Haringey and establish partnership protocols, where appropriate, that could include engagement with participants and employers.

**Bidders will also have to demonstrate experience and a proven track record of working in areas with high levels of labour market deprivation such as Haringey.**

Geographical targeting

This employment project will be a Haringey-wide service but the expectation is that the various activities employed to engage project participants will be targeted to ensure that a minimum of 80% of project participants will live in the following wards. This is because these ward share at least one Lower Super Output Area\\textsuperscript{27} (LSOA) with an out of work benefits claim rate that is higher than the current (February 2015) Haringey wide borough average of 11%:

| Bruce Grove | St Ann’s | |-------------------|-------------------| | Harringay | Stroud Green | | Hornsey | Tottenham Green | | Noel Park | Tottenham Hale | | Northumberland Park | West Green | | Seven Sisters | White Hart Lane | | Woodside | |

\\textsuperscript{27} The Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is a long standing method used by the government to measure relative deprivation, rather than absolute change, across small areas of England called Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs). Deprivation in these terms is used to cover a wide range of issues (or “domains”): Income; Employment; Health and Disability; Education, Skills and Training; Housing and Services; Crime; Living Environment. This specification will not prescribe the specific activities, beyond those set out in the outputs and results payment schedule below that will lead to the minimum core targets being achieved. The expectation is that bidders will propose proven and innovative approaches to delivering the project successfully. However, bidders should consider including the following activities as part of their delivery models:

- Accredited vocational training
- Basic skills
- Confidence building/mentoring
- CV building and interview techniques
- Debt/financial management support (including Better Off Calculations)
- Employer engagement and job brokerage
- English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
- Non-accredited training
- Self employment support
- Work placements

| Outputs for payment | % Conversion | No. of Participants | Unit Cost | Total | Delivery Timescales | |---------------------|--------------|---------------------|-----------|-------|---------------------| | Number of Starts | 91% | 340 | £ 450.00 | £153,000 | 30/06/2018 | | Submission of Project evaluation report | 1 | £ 5,000.00 | £5,000 | 31/01/2019 | | Results for payment | | | | | | | Number of participants in employment within 4 weeks of leaving the project | 49% | 185 | £ 900.00 | £166,500 | 30/06/2018 | | Number of participants who have sustained employment for 26 weeks (out of 32) | 62% | 115 | £ 1,200.00 | £138,000 | 31/12/2018 | | Maximum funding available | | | | £462,500 | | Introduction – Hounslow Borough

Hounslow Council commissioned the Hounslow Skills and Employment strategy in 2014 which set out its commitment to improving the skills and life chances of the borough’s residents. The strategy was developed in response to the shifting wider economic and political context which was part of national skills reform with a sharper focus on economically viable skills led by employers, and a welfare reform system which focused on a stronger emphasis on claimants seeking employment. It was produced in consultation with local employers, skills providers, residents, and other key partners such as Jobcentre Plus.

The strategy sets out a new approach to working with employers in the borough, to improve residents’ skills and access to the labour market. It followed on from the publication of Hounslow’s Local Economic Assessment [2011], and updates to this which were produced in 2013 and presented to members of Hounslow’s Economic and Business Forum and Hounslow’s Skills, Training and Employment Partnership. The strategy sits within in the framework of the Council’s Economic Development Strategy [2013] and wider regeneration plans. The strategy has four key aims which are:

1. To support local employment growth and enterprise through improving access to skills and reducing mismatch between demand and supply
2. Improving all young people’s achievement and progression into employment
3. Improving pathways into work for the unemployed and progression in work for low paid residents
4. Improving access to information, advice and guidance and labour market information

The Skills and Employment team in partnership with partners work to deliver against the aims and specific targets within the strategy.

Hounslow Council is proactive in the local employment and skills agenda and has a number of projects which are helping to support Hounslow residents into employment and apprenticeship opportunities. The Skills and Employment team were successful in securing European Social Fund [ESF] funding for the Digital, Media, Tech and Creative Skills Project, Working People, Working Places and the expansion of the Skills Escalator programme.

These innovative projects aim to help support the employment and skills agenda in the borough with a focus on supporting some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable residents. These projects are leading the way nationally in terms of shaping the thinking about service re-design, new methods of engaging with residents and tackling recurring barriers to employment and skills progression.

The project will run for two-years and will aim to ensure adults aged 25 and over who are either long term unemployed or economically inactive are able to move towards securing employment opportunities with local businesses in Hounslow’s Digital, Media, Tech and Creative sectors either through obtaining relevant training/qualifications or direct employment. A successful project would aim to deliver against the targets set out in the project specification which would result in building a 'local talent pipeline'.

**Demographic Data**

**Hounslow has a total population of 265,600 [Nomis, 2014]**

Projections from the GLA indicate that as of 2015 just over half (51.6%) of Hounslow residents are from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. The largest non-white ethnic group in Hounslow is Indian [52,300], followed by Other Asian [30,100] and Pakistani [15,200]. In addition to white British and Irish residents, Hounslow’s white population also includes a substantial number of residents from other European countries, particularly EU accession countries such as Poland and Romania.

Total working age population is 180,400 [Nomis, 2004]

The number of residents who are economically inactive are 40,600 [22.4%] [Jan – Dec2015]

The number of JSA claimants in the borough is 2375 [March 2016]

Indices of Multiple Deprivation [IMD] – Overall severe relative deprivation in Hounslow seems to have increased slightly since the IMD results were published back in 2010; the borough has 16 LSOAs in the most deprived 20 per cent nationally in the 2015 IMD (including two in the top 10 per cent), compared to 12 (of which one was in the top 10 per cent) in the 2010 IMD.

**Strategic Documents**

**Hounslow Skills and Employment Strategy**

**London Borough of Hounslow – Sectors Research**

**Nesta - Tech Nation 2016: Transforming UK industries**

**Sector information – Local and National Research**

A research report conducted by Regeneris called ‘Hounslow Sectors Research’ in 2015 has shown the strength of the Media and ICT and Digital sectors of Hounslow’s economy. These sectors are seen as high growth areas for the foreseeable future and we know from national, and local research reports and through discussions with local employers there are skills gaps within these sectors. The Regeneris research has shown - three quarters of these businesses reported they experienced no difficulties in recruiting appropriately skilled staff. However, skills challenges were reported in IT development / software skills which are found in roles across the ICT and Media sectors.

The Regeneris research showed the relative strength of Hounslow’s Media and ICT/Digital Media in comparison to the other 33 London boroughs. In Hounslow, 13 per cent (18,800 jobs) of the total jobs in the Hounslow economy are based in the Media sector which is the highest proportion of all the London boroughs. This shows the relative strength of the Media sector in Hounslow’s economy. The London average for jobs in the Media sector is only 3 per cent.

Similarly, 9 per cent (12,900) of the total number of jobs in the Hounslow economy are based in ICT/Digital sector, where Hounslow is 2nd only behind Islington on 10 per cent. The London average for the jobs in ICT/Digital Media is 4.9 per cent.

The above tables and information have shown the relative strength of Hounslow’s Media and ICT/Digital Media sectors in comparison to the other London boroughs.

Below there is a summary of the key points and figures from the key sectors summary which has been produced from the Regeneris report:

**Hounslow Media & Broadcasting Sector**

- 18,800 jobs (13 per cent of total) which increased 8,600 (+84 percent) since 2009
- 410 businesses (4 per cent of total) increased by (+19 per cent) since 2011
- 99 percent employ 0-4 people, but a small number of very large companies such as SKY employ the vast majority
- This sector is mainly concentrated in the east of the borough, 50 per cent of businesses are located in Turnham Green and Chiswick
- Sector trends – Export driven and domestic growth expected – UK entertainment and media market alone is forecast to reach £63bn by 2016
- Professions – STEAM subjects, Gaming, Mobile entertainment and media, Animation, e-commerce
- Threats to the sector – Fragmented funding landscape, incompatibility of traditional financial products and infrastructure gaps
- Local specialisms in Production and broadcasting – 78 per cent of the sector’s employment base across almost 300 businesses
- Local specialisms in Wider Professional services related to media – 3,400 jobs in 160 businesses
- Local specialism in TV Triangle & Enjoy-Work cluster – developing a media tech cluster in west London
- Technology – The online presence of the media sector promotes a uniquely large freelance workforce who work from home, with specialist equipment and fibre optic broadband commonly seen as the only necessary tools to do business

**Hounslow’s ICT & Digital Media Sector**

- 12,900 jobs (9 per cent of total) increased + 4,300 (+50 per cent) since 2009
- 1,900 jobs businesses (16 per cent) and has increased 51 per cent since 2011
- Large proportion of micro-businesses – 94% employ 0-4 people compared to 81 % across the overall business base
- Location – Relatively diffuse but with business concentrations in Hounslow Town centre (27%) and Turnham Green and Chiswick (20%)
- Sector trends – Driven by both its own high value potential and its enabling role, helping to drive innovation and productivity in other sectors
- Professions – Big data, new broadcasting technologies and delivery models, mobility and connectivity, need ‘work ready’ graduates, e-commerce
- Threats to the sector – UK is experiencing an annual shortfall of 40,000 scientists, engineers and technicians, while international competition from US and Asia is also a major challenge to growth
- Local specialisms in Development and Business activities – includes activities relating to computer consultancy and software development this sub-sector constitutes over half of Hounslow’s ICT & Digital sector employment (6,600)
- Local specialisms in Wholesale of computers & software – 33 per cent of sector employment (4,300 jobs)

**UKCES – Sector Skills Insights: Digital and Creative**

The Digital sub sector generates value from the systems, services, software and communications backbone on which everyone depends, and covers telecommunications, computer programming and information service activities

The Creative sub-sector generates value from creative content, both digital and traditional, from television to film to publishing, and also covers advertising, design, photography, performing arts and cultural heritage

Synergy between the two sub sectors: “Digitisation is making creative firms more technology-intensive” (NESTA) Key messages – The sector contributes £92 billion to UK economy, and employs nearly two million people. The UK is ranked 6th in the world for its overall competitiveness in IT but has declined from 3rd. This drop is echoed in other areas of the sector. International competition in the creative sub sector is being driven by policies that are often more ambitious than those in the UK. The digital and creative sector is highly successful. It makes a significant contribution to the economy and enjoys world class status, which needs to be sustained. It is projected to grow and evolve rapidly over the next decade.

Partly because of this success several challenges exist which threaten the sector’s performance:

- The quantity of digital graduates
- The quality of creative graduates
- The gender balance and lack of financial investment in the workforce

There are a number of examples which exist where these challenges are being tackled successfully through employer-led skills solutions. If the sector is to realise its potential this action must be scaled-up and employers must play a greater role in developing the skills they need.

Digital and Creative sector – Key Skills Challenges

Attracting talent is a key challenge – Applications to computing/IT degree courses have nearly halved in the last decade. The digital sub-sector employs three times more men than women. The creative sub-sector has an oversupply of graduates but they often lack specialist skills.

Not enough employers invest in the workforce – Half of employers train their staff, but the proportion that train has fallen in recent years. Although much training is done informally, spend per employee in the sector is below average.

Sector specific skills gap - Relatively few employers report staff that are not fully proficient in their jobs. But where they do exist, the most common skills gaps are among professional occupations in the digital sub-sector (27% compared to 9 per cent for the whole economy), and among sales and customer service occupations in the creative sub-sector (25% compared to 19% for the whole economy).

Lack of technology skills - Where technology skills are lacking employers report it impacts on new product development (68% for digital employers, 51% for creative employers and 41% for the whole economy).

Outsourcing work - It also impacts meeting business requirements, in terms of outsourcing work (39% of digital employers, 31% of creative employers and 26% for the whole economy).

Business and Management skills - There is also a need to improve business and management skills, management, planning and organisational skills. These skills are those most commonly identified as the ones that need improving and these are in demand across the economy. However training levels are falling and international competition is rising.

Creative and Digital Sector – Developing a skilled workforce

[Retention] Training - Much of the training undertaken in the Digital and Creative sector is done informally, but more can be done to strength this. Training provision is fragmented and led by learner interest. Only 26% of digital and creative employers reported staff had been trained towards a nationally recognised qualification compared to 44% across all sectors.

[Recruitment] Apprenticeships/internships - The sector could do more to grow the specific skills it needs through apprenticeships/internships and tackle some perennial problems:

- Creative employers often find job-specific skills lacking among graduates
- Entry routes to the creative sector are often characterised by knowing people in the industry and means the sector doesn’t always provide access to the best talent
- Digital employers need to establish alternative entry channels such as Apprenticeships that create ‘home grown’ talent

Digital sub-Sector – Background The digital sub-sector needs to recruit at least 30,000 people qualified at degree level or above each year and currently there are not enough appropriately skilled graduates. Employers need to think creatively about opening up alternative recruitment channels to include; graduates from non-IT courses who can be trained; experienced workers in other sectors who can be retrained and re-entrants to the labour market following career break, early retirement or unemployment.

Women make up only a quarter of the workforce in the digital sub-sector and the proportion is falling. As a result, the digital and creative sector is missing out on a significant proportion of the talent pool. This issue is not only at entry level but also retaining women in the sector is just as much of a challenge.

Creative sub-sector – Background The creative sector needs to recruit at least 50,000 people qualified at degree level or above each year. There is a good supply of graduates from 18,000 creative and media courses on offer at UK HE institutions. But too many courses are producing graduates without the specialist skills needed by employers. Engagement between HE and Creative Media industries is crucial, and there is scope for further engagement through:

- The development of talent and high-level skills for the creative economy
- Activities that enhance the employability and enterprise skills of students and graduates
- Provision of tailored and high-quality continuing professional development (CPD) to the creative industries

National Research – Digital Sector

UKCES - Technology and Skills in the digital industries The Digital sector employs 3 per cent of the UK workforce and contributes nearly £69 billion Gross Value Added to the UK economy (7.4 per cent). Skills shortage vacancies equate to 17 per cent of all vacancies in the sector, and are experienced by 3,000 employers. Hard to fill and skill shortage vacancies are concentrated in Professional and Associate Professional and Technical occupations. The most common skills thought to be lacking are job specific, and advanced IT or software skills.

This report is to provide new insights on the role of four emerging technologies which are: cyber security; mobile technologies; Green IT and Cloud Computing, in driving high level skills needs of the wider Digital sector.

**Cyber security**

**Skills needs** – These include a sound base of technical understanding, knowledge and competencies; understanding and awareness of security issues and industry standards; analytical skills, risk analysis and risk management. Communication skills, relationship management, and customer facing presentation skills are also seen critical to achieve active support for Cyber Security from other business leaders.

**Occupations** – There are significant recruitment and skills issues including an inability to source appropriate information security professionals in particular higher level specialists such as Security Architects and Security Analysts.

**Mobile technologies**

**Skills needs** – Agile techniques, technical pre-sales, sales, marketing, account management support and an extensive understanding of customers’ industries are noted as key skills requirements alongside the need for a high degree of interaction between technical specialists, the user experience design team and the end client/customer.

**Occupations** – Mobile technology skills are needed in many IT specialist job roles, whether in design and development, management or support. Highly skilled occupations in mobility include: IT Architects, Developers, User Experience Designers and Project Managers. Hard to find occupations were noted as IT Architects, Developers, User Experience Designers, Testers and Sales and Pre-sales staff.

**Green IT**

**Skills needs** – Key skills requirements are around energy management expertise, data collection and analytics and integration. It was noted that research and development and high level mathematics skills are not readily available, highlighting the need for STEM skills. As found in other technologies investigated for this project, IT skills need to be complemented with sector or domain specific skills (e.g. in construction and logistics). Business and commercial awareness, communication and presentation skills were found to be needed at a higher level to increase awareness of sustainability issues across the business as well as with customers.

**Occupations** – IT architects and Solution Designers are key high level roles for Green IT. Staff working in this area tend to have extensive IT backgrounds, experience and capability before specialising in Green IT. Certifications are less widely used with solid technical background and experience being favoured, perhaps with a higher level degree.

**Cloud computing** Skills needs – A wide range of technical skills are needed for Cloud Computing although security, networking, virtualisation skills and big data analytics are considered to be the key skills for Cloud. However, IT specialists need broader business skill-sets, especially risk management and business stakeholder management, to bridge the divide between IT and wider business operations.

Occupations – Employers report that generally competition for higher level skills means that they find it difficult to recruit into cloud roles, relying on contractors/consultants while they redeploy and upskill their existing staff.

Project Specification

The project will aim to improve the employability and skills of long term unemployed and economically inactive Hounslow residents and aim to move them closer to securing opportunities within the local Digital, Media, Tech and Creative sectors. In particular it should focus on skills and roles that local employers identify as a priority, and where there is expected to be ongoing demand, to maximise chances of sustainable employment for participants.

Currently, the employment and skills team provides support for residents to secure employment through a general job brokerage service. The aim of the project is to provide specialist job brokerage support to businesses and residents in the Digital, Media, Tech and Creative sector.

There are a number of barriers and issues that are experienced by Hounslow residents:

Hounslow has a significant demand for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision, with many residents not having English as a first language. In a number of cases migrants who move to the borough are actually highly-skilled from their home countries but because of the language barrier they find themselves in low-paid employment which raises questions about productivity.

Hounslow experiences a substantial churn in the composition of its population due to migration changes, and this churn is particularly concentrated on the central part of the borough. Hounslow is also a very diverse borough in terms of its population and its geography - as the West of borough is in close proximity to Heathrow and the East of the borough bordering Acton and Hammersmith.

A high number of high value and high paid jobs within the borough are actually carried out by people who live outside the borough and not Hounslow residents and in particular this is case for the Digital, Media, Tech and Creative sectors. The majority of Hounslow residents find themselves in low-paid employment within the borough.

The Digital, Media, Tech and Creative Skills Project should engage fully with on-going and existing plans and strategies within the councils and with other key partners, and where possible work with the services delivered by the skills and employment team, and in particular those which are detailed below:

Hounslow Job Brokerage Service - Borough wide job and skills brokerage, which works with local employers to ensure their vacancies can be filled by Hounslow residents. The service provides clients tailored one-to-one support on how to get closer to employment by providing information, advice and guidance [IAG] and where possible removing any barriers to work. The job brokerage service also has a Construction Skills and Employment Officer who specialises in working with employers in the construction, transport and logistics sector. This activity includes providing clients for job vacancies and apprenticeships making sure they have the correct accreditation to work within the sector.

**Careers Coach** - This innovative service provides Hounslow residents with information, advice and guidance on employment, skills and training via a state-of-the-art converted truck, fully equipped with computer stations for residents to work on their CV or job application. The coach aims to provide IAG to residents and sign up clients for Job brokerage and Skills Escalator, and also will offer support to low-paid in work residents who do not qualify for our other projects by signing them up for our work clubs and referring them onto NCS if they require further support.

**Skills Escalator** - The Skills Escalator project aims to help people with low incomes to get training and support to help them improve their skills, and increase their income either through increasing their hours in their current role or by supporting them to find higher-paying jobs. Project Requirements

The Digital, Media, Tech and Creative Skills ESF project should focus on long term unemployed or economically inactive adults aged 25 and over with a particular focus on ESF target groups which are lone parents, women returners, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. The successful provider will be expected to work with all of these target groups.

The project must work to support a number of different activities to help support local Digital, Media, Tech and Creative sectors – these activities will focus on getting local residents interested in the sector and local opportunities; providing residents with the skills and qualifications linked to skills required by the sector and securing residents into direct employment with local Digital Media/Tech employers.

The Mayor and the Local Employment Partnership (LEP) in November 2015 announced it was launching a £5m Digital Skills Programme, the programme activity will be focused on the 14-24 age group. This project should expect to engage with the LEP delivery partner in the local area to complement the LEP’s activity. Both programmes are supporting different target groups to engage in the same sector and there will be a number of benefits in working together as there might be opportunities for cross-referral and working together to raise awareness of the projects when engaging with both residents and employers. The Digital, Media, Tech and Creative Skills project provider should seek to coordinate employer contact with the LEP delivery partner to minimise duplication.

The project will engage:

- A number of key stakeholders to successfully deliver the stated outcomes, the expectations will be for the project to develop strong working relationships with key local providers like West Thames College and University of West London to identify appropriate training provision for clients enrolled onto the project.

- Local businesses within the Digital, Media, Tech and Creative sectors to understand their skills requirements, current skills shortages and job opportunities. It should be remembered that different methods will be required to engage the large corporate employers and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the sector.

- Existing employment services which are being delivered by the Skills and Employment team at Hounslow Council to ensure that these services all link up and are coordinated.

The project will need to design interactive and creative methods to engage unemployed Hounslow residents from across different parts of the borough to support creating local skilled residents who can work in the local Digital, Media, Tech and Creative sectors.

Payments will be on a payment by results/outcome payment model, weighted towards sustained job outcomes as the key outcome-objective of the project. Therefore, funding is allocated against the following measures, and service providers are asked to bid and provide evidence against the numbers and quality of outcomes they propose to deliver against each of the outputs and results in the table below.

## Digital, Media, Tech and Creative Skills Project

| Geographical location | Hounslow | |-----------------------|----------| | **Project Timescale** | **Contract Period** | | | 01/09/2016 to 31/12/2018 | | **Outputs for payment** | **% Conversion** | **No. of Participants** | **Unit Cost** | **Total** | **Delivery Timescales** | | Number of Participants | 115 | | Participants receiving 6+ hours of support (IAG, job search, mentoring, training) | 90% | 104 | £400 | £49,600 | 30/06/2018 | | Participants undertaking a work placement | | 18 | £250 | £4,500 | 30/06/2018 | | Participants achieving vocational qualifications | | 7 | £900 | £6,300 | 30/06/2018 | | Evaluation | | 1 | £4,000 | £4,000 | | **Results for payment** | **Total** | | Participants in employment/apprenticeship within 4 weeks of leaving the project | 50% | 57 | £1,000 | £57,000 | 30/06/2018 | | Participants who have sustained employment for 26 weeks (out of 32) | 63% | 36 | £1,500 | £54,000 | 31/12/2018 | | Maximum funding available | | | | | £175,400 | Introduction to the borough

Merton as a whole is a successful borough and compares well to other parts of London in terms of rates of employment and unemployment, skill levels and earnings. However, this overall picture masks a deep divide between the eastern and western halves of the borough. Residents in the west of the borough are more likely to be employed, more likely to have high levels of skills and they are likely to earn more. Residents in the east of the borough have fewer local jobs in the vicinity and do not benefit from the same quality of transport connections as residents in the west of the borough.

Aside from the geographical differences, other entrenched problems are associated with the large numbers of residents in the borough who are long-term benefits claimants, including the 5,000+ residents who claim Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and incapacity benefit. Whilst the overall percentages who claim these benefits at borough level compares favourably with the London averages, the imbalance in the borough means that there are high concentrations of these residents in the east of the borough. For many of these people, getting back to work will pose a significant challenge.

Merton also faces challenges in terms of apprenticeship numbers. As with London as a whole, apprenticeship starts and completions have fallen in Merton over the past few years, though the decline in completions has been more severe in Merton. More needs to be done to ensure that young people and employers see apprenticeships as a viable route into employment and for career progression.

Another challenge includes the numbers of residents on low pay. Nearly a fifth of employed Merton residents are paid below the London Living Wage. Whilst this is a lower rate than London, it still represents a considerable barrier to residents achieving a better quality of life.

Merton residents are on the doorstep of the country’s most dynamic employment market. However, many residents may continue to be locked out of this market, due to lack of relevant skills. New employment opportunities in London will demand higher skills. Whilst there will continue to be low skilled employment opportunities, there will be increasing competition for these jobs and therefore a commensurate downward pressure on wages for low skilled employment.

The Economic Wellbeing Group (EWG) was set up in 2012 and looks at improving the economic wellbeing of residents. The EWG is dedicated to improving the employability and skills prospects for residents in the borough. This group comprises of job centre plus, the local FE College, training providers, registered providers and social landlords, Merton Chamber of Commerce, community organisations, representatives from the council and local voluntary sector partners.

The EWGs first successful joint bid was the Demand Led pilot in 2012 from the London Learning Consortium. This programme looked at improving skills and encouraging a gateway to employment for long term unemployed residents who resided in the four most deprived areas in the borough.

The ‘Take One’ programme led by Merton Chamber of Commerce was another EWG initiative which has led to 247 employers expressing an interest in taking on an apprentice with more than 100 apprenticeship starts. The EWG has recently won the Flexible Support Fund from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This funding will be used to work with and address the barriers of 50 residents to enable them to move closer to sustainable employment.

In 2012, the council commissioned Shared Intelligence to conduct an Employment and Skills strategy. From this strategy, the first economic and wellbeing action plan was produced. The action plan set targets and objectives for all EWG partners to work towards improving the skills and employability prospects for our residents.

In 2014, the employment and skills action plan was refreshed with a new action plan being set in July 2015. This plan identified a number of target groups that required additional support. The groups identified were ex-offenders, lone parents, carers, long term unemployed, looked after children/ care leavers and the over 50s. In 2015, Merton commissioned an employability programme to deliver employability skills and training to the hardest to reach residents, targeting those residents identified from the employment and skills action plan refresh. These programmes have been split between three providers and finished in June 2016.

In addition to the employability programmes, Merton commissioned the delivery of a basic IT skills programme to teach residents how to use a computer, the internet and provide an introduction to the Microsoft office package. This programme was due to finish in March 2016.

We are looking for a bespoke approach from this ESF programme. Many of our residents have been through a number of training programmes previously; however they feel discouraged when there are no employment opportunities available at the end of the programme. Alongside the lack of employment opportunities, many residents feel as though they are forgotten once the programme has completed, therefore it is very important to ensure that mentoring, specialist advice, skills support and job coaching is included within this programme.

In addition to coaching and mentoring, it is important that this programme provides sustainable job outcomes, and on-going support once an individual has gone into work to ensure they remain in employment. This programme will provide confidence, improve mental health, motivation, attitude to work and have a positive effect on those in workless households. This in turn will provide wider benefits to the community.

Demographic Data

- Merton has a total population of 203,500
- Total working age population: 137,500 (67.6%)
- Percentage BAME: 37.1% (mixed, black, Asian, Chinese, other)

Strategic documents

Merton Employment and Skills action plan https://www.merton.gov.uk/merton_employment_and_skills_action_plan_2013-2014.pdf

Economic Development Strategy http://www.merton.gov.uk/merton_s_economic_development_strategy_refresh_2012.pdf

Economic Narrative http://www.merton.gov.uk/economic_narrative_for_merton_2012.pdf Background

Merton is a relatively affluent borough located in South West London (SWL), with a population of 203,500. Merton currently has 1,997 people claiming job seekers allowance (JSA). There are currently 26,000 individuals who are economically inactive. This suggests that there are a large number of unemployed people who are not claiming JSA, either because they are ineligible, or because they do not want to due to tougher requirements on those claiming JSA.

The broader measure of unemployment suggests that unemployment is rising, even though the JSA claimant count is falling and is now back to pre-recession levels. This suggests that there are a large number of unemployed people who are not claiming JSA, either because they are ineligible, or because they don’t want to due to tougher requirements on those claiming JSA.

Economically inactive persons are currently not part of the labour force (in the sense that they are not employed or unemployed according to the definitions provided). Economic inactivity includes students, those with caring responsibilities and early retirees. There are currently 26,000 economically inactive people in Merton.

Looking at the borough as a whole, Merton has a strong labour market. Its employment rate has been above the London and national averages for most of the past decade. During the economic downturn, the employment rate amongst working age residents fell more sharply than across London and England, but over recent years it has moved closer towards pre-recession levels.

The employment rate gap between men and women in Merton is relatively high. This is partly a result of the area’s particularly high male employment rate. However, it also reflects the disproportionate impact of the recession on females in the labour market.

Given that Merton has relatively few jobs per resident, it is not surprising that Merton is also a net exporter of labour, with an aggregate inflow to the sub-region of 38,400 workers and an aggregate outflow of 68,000 workers. In total there were 29,600 more out-commuters than in-commuters in 2011.

At the same time, over four-fifths of Merton commuters worked outside of the borough. In total, over half of working residents were employed in other parts of London. The lack of transport routes in the east of the borough has an impact on those in the east not commuting outside of the borough compared to those in the west of the borough. Claimant rates are much higher in the east of the borough, particularly around Mitcham, than in the west of the borough.

Of particular concern in London and Merton is youth unemployment, given the impact this has on long term employability. The recession has made finding work much harder for young people. The most recent count shows that nearly 400 young people in Merton were claiming JSA.

The programme will target the individuals who are seen as the hardest to reach and engage with.

______________________________________________________________________

28 Unemployed are persons usually without work, available for work and actively seeking work. Persons considered as registered unemployed according to national definitions are always included here even if they do not fulfil all three of these criteria.

Employed persons are persons aged 15 and over who performed work for pay, profit or family gain or were not at work but had a job or business from which they were temporarily absent because of, for instance, illness, holidays, industrial dispute, and education or training. The Merton ESF programme will have a strong focus on supporting those in the East of the borough, particularly those from ethnic minorities. This builds on Merton’s employment and skills action plan which supports the hardest to reach residents into employment or a training opportunity. This programme will complement but not duplicate current local provision in the delivery of an employability programme to help the hardest to reach target groups into employment.

In addition to providing support and basic skills to residents, the delivery partners will also be expected to provide work experience, sustainable job outcomes and apprenticeship placements.

The EWG has a specific remit to work on creating employment opportunities and up skilling residents by providing joined up approaches and collectively bidding for funding with a focus on the east of the borough. The winning delivery partner will be expected to work closely with the EWG and provide regular updates at the meetings.

Therefore this ESF project 1.1 should build on two areas of Merton’s existing Employment and Skills Action Plan. It should aim to complement, and develop best practice within the following areas:

1. Merton’s employability initiatives to assist the hardest to reach residents into work. This ESF project should demonstrate a close link with Merton’s existing initiatives by focusing on engaging and providing sustainable employment, apprenticeship or work experience for the long term unemployed, those who have been economically inactive, residents with a disability, and those who are 50 and over.

2. Skills and Training - focused on support to families, young people and residents requiring ESOL to increase their employability and accelerate their entry into work. The Project should therefore demonstrate that it can target those from black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds by linking with current borough funded initiatives.

**Project Specification**

The objective of this programme will be to move people towards employment by up skilling them and removing the barriers, which are standing between them and employment.

It will enable:

- Long term unemployed and economically inactive people to move closer to work through increased confidence, appropriate skills training and work experience opportunities.

- People to start a job, with mentoring and other appropriate in work support to help them stay in work.

The project will focus primarily but not exclusively on lone parents, carers, women returners and potential second earners who are economically inactive as well as those from BAME, and those with disabilities in the eastern side of the borough. As people below the age of 25 are disproportionately affected by worklessness, the project will also be expected to target this group. However, the majority of participants to this project should be above 25 years of age. The project should reflect these groups in its design.

Whilst Merton is seen as an affluent London Borough there are pockets of deprivation within the borough. These areas of deprivation are mainly in the eastern wards of the borough. These wards have multiple deprivation having high scores on income deprivation, unemployment, and lack education attainment. The project has the opportunity over a relatively long delivery period to work intensively and consistently with participants to move them closer towards the labour market.

The project should include elements of financial capability, which will include an understanding of benefits and how better to manage resources. Merton claimants transferred to universal credit in April 2016, so we would expect sessions on financial management/budgeting to be included within this programme.

The project should also include confidence and motivational training as well as the more traditional job search skills such as interview practice, interview techniques and support to complete application forms. A key area will be to ensure realistic job goals that match local need is looked at and addressed. Mock interviews with employers will also be expected.

The project should receive referrals from other delivery partners in the borough who can be accessed through the EWG, as well as through other local sub groups and internal council departments.

The project will be evaluated at 2 milestones; Stage 1 one year into active delivery phase in December 2017 and will serve as a formal mid-point review. Stage 2, once the project has completed in December 2018.

The Stage 1 evaluation can be completed in-house, but the final Stage 2 evaluation must be conducted externally and independently of the project team. Templates for the structures of the evaluations will be provided, and payments will only be released once the evaluations are approved by the programme management team at London Councils.

| Geographical Location | Start | End | |-----------------------|-------|-----| | Project Timescale | | | | Project Delivery | 12/03/2017 | 31/12/2018 | | Final Evaluation | 31/01/2019 |

| Outputs for payment | % conversions | No. of Participants | Unit cost | Total | |---------------------|---------------|---------------------|-----------|-------| | Number of starts | | 149 | | | | Number of participants receiving 6+ hours of support (IAG, job search, mentoring, training) | 91% | 135 | £440 | £59,400 | | Participants gaining basic skills | 79% | 118 | £400 | £47,200 | | Participants undertaking a work placement / volunteering | 44% | 65 | £350 | £22,750 | | Submission of final evaluation report | 1 | £4,283 | £4,283 | | Results for payment | Unit cost | Total | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|----------| | Number of participants entering employment /apprenticeship within 4 weeks of leaving | 45% | £1,700 | £113,900 | | Number of participants in sustained employment /apprenticeship for 26 weeks (6M) | 60% | £2,250 | £90,000 | | Maximum funding available | - | £337,533 | Specification 4 Wandsworth – Older Workers Employment Network

Wandsworth’s demographic profile indicates that 85% of JSA claimants are over 25 with 1440 more JSA claimants over 45 years old. Approximately double the amount of claimants in the 18-24 years old age group.

The Policy Exchange report ‘Too Much to Lose, Understanding and Supporting Britain’s Older Workers’ Author Matthew Tinsley (2012) outlines the negative economic impact of the number of older people unable to find work. The report highlights the tension between supporting older and younger people into work and specifically highlights the past poor performance of national organisations in impacting the numbers of older people out of work.

It also outlines and recommends the inclusion of local employer engagement, voluntary sector organisations and more individually tailored advice in any future programmes.

The Resolution Foundation research report, ‘Unfinished Business - Barriers and opportunities to employment for older workers’. Author Giselle Cory (August 2012) demonstrates the national picture for older people who are over represented in unemployment figures. But even this may be an underrepresentation of the true number of older people who are economically inactive and may be forced into early retirement through redundancy or ill health. Cory found that fewer than 40% of over 50s find work within a year. However older workers may have a greater need to return to work quickly because of mortgage responsibilities and dependent children. At the same time, age discrimination could significantly limit the opportunities that an older job seeker has. The imperative for older people to find work is driven by the need to earn a regular income but also to improve the health and well being both immediately and in later life. Part time work may also be suitable for some older people. Improved back to work support is identified as a necessity and is described as:

- Targeted personal support to find work.
- Identification of barriers to work including health issues and caring responsibilities.
- Addressing self-confidence and the need to up-skill to meet the changing needs of business.
- Volunteering opportunities and work trials may be useful in returning to the workplace.

Cory concludes that older workers are crucial to maximise the UK’s economic capacity and hold vital experience and expertise. Failure to support and utilise older people in the economy may lead to the risk of poverty and declining living standards. This may in turn lead to a greater financial dependence on the state as well as a loss of business know how and talent.

Project Specification

In line with the Local Employment Partnerships (LEPs) strategic priorities Wandsworth’s project will aim to reduce unemployment within the borough by addressing the specific barriers to employment of the over 45s age group. Therefore, addressing the barriers to work for this age group can significantly impact on the overall unemployment figures for the borough. This programme proposes to set up the ‘Older Workers Employment Network’ - OWEN, a network for 110 long term unemployed or economically inactive over 45 year olds in Wandsworth. The aim of the programme will be to support OWEN participants to identify and address the barriers faced by older people who are looking for work and provide a platform for these individuals to explore and address their personal barriers to work. The programme will aim to help 58 people to find work with 36 of them sustaining employment for more than six months.

Therefore the project provider will be required to set up the ‘Older Workers Employment Network’ - OWEN. They will work with employers and older people to identify employment opportunities and to address barriers to work including exploring and addressing age discrimination. One of the ways the successful provider will need to do this is by developing and producing a business case for employing older people through the course of the project. This will involve both employers and job seekers and will use the experiences gained over the life of the project.

The successful provider will need to involve employers, voluntary sector organisations, local authority services and will be managed by a project coordinator who will provide advice, support and networking know how.

The OWEN service provider will work closely with the council’s Work Match team to identify employers that are positive about recruiting older people, with the intention of building links which may help OWEN participants to access jobs. Work Match has established, and continues to establish, excellent relationships with businesses, and has directly engaged with over 300 businesses in the last 12 months. The council’s Work Match team has also secured a number of vacancies in the following sectors through Section 106 agreements for local people:-

- Construction
- Retail
- Hospitality and Catering
- Business Administration

We are confident that many of these businesses will take an active interest in recruiting older workers and make a positive contribution to this initiative.

Once created the Older Workers Employment Network (OWEN) should provide enhanced Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) for older workers in order to harness and focus the experience gained through individual and group work to aid return to employment. The successful provider should ensure that they identify barriers to work (faced by older people) and plan and deliver both individual and collective solutions to address these: the successful provider will engage with employers to further understand local business needs and negotiate work trials, build a business case for employing older people and create a peer to peer network of support, focused on finding and retaining employment.

______________________________________________________________________

29 Under the 1990 Town and Planning Act, Section 106 (S106) Agreements are legal agreements between Local Authorities and developers; these are linked to planning permissions and can also be known as planning obligations. Section 106 agreements are drafted when it is considered that a development will have significant impacts on the local area that cannot be moderated by means of conditions attached to a planning decision. Employers should be recruited and engaged through the boroughs existing business organisations and through ‘Work Match’, Wandsworth’s in-house jobs brokerage. Introductions between employers and OWEN members will need to be made at ‘Meet the Employer ‘speed dating’ events. Employers will also need to be involved at project board level and will help to shape and evaluate the programme. The focus will be on assessing current skills against the needs of new and existing businesses and identifying training and development to fill the gap. The provider’s project will also focus on addressing the self-confidence of older people through peer to peer support and engagement in order to improve the outcomes of up skilling to meet changing business

| Specification – Required outputs, results and unit costs | |----------------------------------------------------------| | **Wandsworth – OWEN Project** | | **Project Timescale** | | Contract period | | Start 01/07/2016 | | End 30/09/2018 | | Final Evaluation | | 31/12/2018 | | **Outputs for payment** | | % Conversions | | No. of Participants | | Unit cost | | Total | | Number of starts | | 121 | | Number of participants receiving 6+ hours of support (IAG, job search, mentoring, training) | | 91% | | 110 | | £450 | | £49,500 | | Submission of final evaluation report | | 1 | | £3,250 | | £3,250 | | Results payment for payment | | Number | | Unit cost | | Total | | Number of participants in employment within 4 weeks of leaving the project | | 48% | | 58 | | £800 | | £46,400 | | Number of participants in sustained employment for 26 weeks (6M) | | 62% | | 36 | | £1,100 | | £39,600 | | Maximum funding available | | £138,750 | 3. Participant Target Groups

London Councils’ ESF Programme 2016-2018 will support the long-term unemployed and economically inactive individuals who are from the specific target groups outlined below. The Programme’s target groups and the relative percentage of starters for each target group are also listed (to the right):

- Economically Inactive: 65%
- Long-term unemployed: 35%

**ESF Target Groups**

- Women: 51%
- Older People (50 years and over): 18%
- Ethnic Minorities: 60%
- Disabled (self-declared): 22%
- Lone Parents: 16%

Your project will be expected to recruit starters from these target groups, and should meet the percentages as shown in the tables above. Note: one individual may be in one or many of the target groups. Applicants will need to consider the appropriate level of childcare to be provided. London Councils expects all projects to provide childcare for participants as required in order to enable them to access this and other support provided on London Councils’ ESF programme.

Therefore when designing your project and writing the application, you should give careful consideration to which target groups you will be supporting, how you will reach and assist them into employment. Where you do not have experience in reaching and working with certain groups, your application must show an agreed partnership with a delivery partner with the required experience and outreach. If a potential participant is not from any target group, you will still be expected to assist them either directly or through signposting.

Where there are insufficient start volumes from the eligible target groups above and the Applicant can demonstrate to the satisfaction of London Councils that this is despite the Applicant’s concerted efforts, London Councils in agreement with the funding Borough may consider widening the eligibility criteria with respect to the employment status of participants.

Payment may be withheld if the agreed starters target groups percentages are not met.

There is provision in the ESF programme – outside the London Councils ESF programme – for individuals who fit within the NEET target group (people aged 16-18 who are not in employment, education or training). In practice, these individuals are not expected to participate on the London Councils ESF Borough Employment Programme 2016-18. Information about programmes for individuals who fit within the NEET target group can be found through the Skills Funding Agency website: [https://lep.london/content_page/skills-funding-agency](https://lep.london/content_page/skills-funding-agency) Core Project Requirements

Eligibility of participants and definitions

Economically inactive - "Inactive" are persons currently not part of the labour force (in the sense that they are not employed or unemployed according to the definitions provided).

Long-term unemployed – Long-term unemployed persons are unemployed persons who are either:

- Youth long-term unemployed (\<25 years of age) = more than 6 months continuous spell of unemployment; or
- Adult long-term unemployed (25 years of age or more) = more than 12 months continuous spell of unemployment.

The target groups for this prospectus are long-term unemployed and the economically inactive. See above for detail.

Individuals who fit within the NEET target group (people aged 16-18 who are not in employment, education or training) are not eligible for the London Councils ESF Borough Employment Programme 2016-18. In effect, this means that all participants must be aged 19 or over.

Participants must also meet the following criteria:

- Live within the specified boroughs:

  - Or where participants are homeless their registered Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) office or temporary/ sheltered accommodation is within the specified borough.

  Participants who engage onto the project, but then ‘move out’ of the specified borough may continue to be supported through the programme.

  (Individuals who live outside the specified borough(s) should be referred to other appropriate support services.)

- Have the right to work in the UK.

- Participants should not be on another ESF funded employment programme where the claimable financial output/result is the same:

  - This includes ESF employment programmes delivered under the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Greater London Authority (GLA), London Councils and Skills Funding Agency.

- Are not already mandated on to the Work Programme:

  - Or are about to be mandated onto the Work Programme or Jobcentre Plus (JCP) approved provision, and the JCP advisor has not approved enrolment onto this programme as an exclusive alternative to the Work Programme. To apply for this Funding, Applicants must be:

- **constituted:** Organisations funded by London Councils must have a constitution or governing document that is signed and dated, and defines how the organisation will operate. A governing document can be a formal constitution, a memorandum or articles of association.

  - Public or Local authority bodies can apply for grants, however the body bidding must be separate and have appropriate ethical walls from the body awarding the funding.(^{30})

- **able to deliver the work in all the boroughs listed in the project specification:**

- **Financially solvent:** Organisations funded by London Councils must not have liabilities that are more than their current assets.

- **Able to begin delivery of project activity from 12 March 2017:** Unless otherwise stated in the application.

______________________________________________________________________

(^{30}) London Councils will ensure that the scoring process will be open, transparent and fair and that there is no conflict of interests when scoring and in assessment of applications. 4. Project activities, outputs and results

London Councils ESF Borough Employment Programme 2016-2018 will support objectives under ESF Priority Axis 1– Inclusive Labour Markets delivering outputs and results for the Investment Priority 1.1.

As a result the Programme aims to improve access to employment for individuals who are far from the labour market, and need assistance to overcome barriers to work.

It will deliver four ESF and Borough jointly funded projects, which aim to:

- improve the employability of the economically inactive and long term unemployed individuals so that they can compete effectively in the labour market
- provide tailored support for those with particular labour market disadvantage(s) (as detailed in Participant Target Groups section) to improve participants’ job readiness and sustainability in employment
- encourage inactive people to participate in the labour market and to improve their employability
- achieve the basic skills needs of the programme’s participants so that they can effectively compete in the labour market.

Within London, there are a number of programmes already providing support to the unemployed, economically inactive, and long term unemployed. In order to avoid duplication, London Councils and participating boroughs will fund projects that work with the specific target groups and geographical areas defined within the project specification (Section 2).

It is recognised that not all participants will be able to move directly into employment at the end of the project. However, where employment (including self-employment) is a realistic target for individual participants, this is the preferred outcome and this is reflected in the targets agreed with successful applicants. Outputs and Results for payment

All payments on the London Councils ESF Borough Programme 2016-18 will be made based on the delivery of pre-specified outputs and results. There are a number of standardised outputs and results for delivery across all specifications. These are explained below.

However, it should be noted that some boroughs will also have specified outputs and results specific to their borough. For details of these and any unit costs associated with them, please consult each specification individually.

Below are all of the specification outputs and result, with associated definitions and evidence requirements. Please note that all of the evidence requirements for output and result payments to be claimed, will also be included in a Project Handbook. Project Handbooks are provided to successful applicants, once the funding agreement with the applicant for delivery of the project is signed with London Councils.

Standard Outputs

Participants receiving six or more hours of one-to-one support

There is no payment for enrolments. Instead, after an advance of 15% (of the total agreed budget) the first payment a project receives will be made against participants who receive a minimum of six hours of support (IAG, job search, mentoring and/or training).

Providers therefore may enrol as many participants as they wish to or have capacity for, however they will only be paid up to the total amount allocated for each payable output. London Councils’ ESF Borough Employment Programme’s remit is to assist those furthest from the labour market and this means that for a successful intervention the majority of participants would need a minimum of six hours of support.

Please note:

- The six hours of support is a milestone which, when passed, allows the project to claim a payment. London Councils requires providers to respond appropriately to participants’ needs; those who need a longer intervention in order to secure success should be accommodated and supported effectively throughout.

- The six hours of support milestone will not include the time taken to register the participant and complete the enrolment form. Time spent doing the induction, needs assessments, action plans and giving information, advice and guidance may be counted. Class work or other group sessions may not be counted if the milestone has been specified as one-to-one sessions only.

- It is recognised that some participants who do not receive six hours of support may still benefit from the programme successfully. Therefore, an employment result may be claimed against any eligible participant, whether or not they have received six hours of support. Any participant for whom a result is claimed must have been enrolled and reported in accordance with London Councils ESF Programme procedures.

- London Councils expects all projects to provide childcare for participants as required in order to enable them to access this and other support provided on London Councils’ ESF programme. Participant completing work placement/volunteering

Initial results of the London Councils ESF Programme 2016-18 indicate that participants who undertake work placements are more likely to secure employment after leaving the programme than those who do not. London Councils wishes to increase the focus on work placements for the 2016-18 programme and has included work placements as an output for payment. Please note:

- In order to be claimed as an output for payment, the participant must have completed the work placement.
- Work placements are time-limited interventions, giving participants experience of real-life work situations in order to assist them in developing skills, understanding work environments and the expectations of employers. There should be a progression towards paid employment, but the participant should not receive financial compensation for their work (though they may gain financial support with out of pocket expenses e.g. travel, childcare etc.). They should include a structured on-placement training/work plan which takes into account both participant and employer needs and on-placement support to both employer and participant should be provided.

Work placements must be for a fixed period of time totalling not less than 30 hours, over a period of time not exceeding twelve weeks. This can include volunteering as long as it meets the criteria outlined above.

Participant gaining Basic Skills

Basic skills gained upon leaving the operation and as a result of a participant taking part in ESF supported activity. The term 'basic skills' refers to one or more of the following: literacy (English); numeracy (maths) or ESOL (where English is not the participant’s ‘mother tongue’) (at entry level or above). Further information about Basic Skills is available in the MI Definitions document (p117): https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/506534/MI_definitions_Final_V1_20160210.pdf (page 117)

Participant achieving vocational qualifications

Actions to develop skills and promote participation in education/training are central elements of many ESF funded programmes and the monitoring process requires information about the starting position of participants and how this may be influenced through ESF support. Indicators therefore cover the level of educational attainment before support, whether or not any qualifications were gained through ESF support, and subsequent participation in education and training.

Please note that we are using the ISCED levels and UK equivalent indicated in the Output and Result Indicator Definitions Guidance for the European Social Fund (pages 131-136). A link to the document is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/506534/MI_definitions_Final_V1_20160210.pdf Participants attending skills events (3+ hours) As part of the participants 6+ hours of support, participants should be attending skills events. Events should enable engagement with large groups of clients at the same time to not only help to increase participants for the project but also raise awareness about the project to providers and employers. This should help to deliver IAG in a different way and act as a successful way of engaging participants and stakeholders.

This could include holding an event on a particular technical skill/s need, which should be employer-led – so for example if many of the participants on the project are programmers or are interested in becoming programmers, the event could link up with local providers and employers to provide presentations and discuss pathways into the profession. For example, discussing soft skills, amending CVs accordingly, and focussing on future trends in the sector

Immediate Results

Participants in employment or apprenticeship, including self-employment within four weeks of leaving the Project

A payment will be made for economically inactive or long term unemployed participants who gain employment within four weeks of leaving the project.

‘Leaving the project’ in this instance marks the date that the participant left the ESF project, after this time no further ‘hours of support’ can be recorded against a paid outcome. However contact and support to participants is expected to be maintained for as long as the participant feels it is necessary and to ensure that the progression is maintained.

To claim this result, the employment must be for 8 or more hours each week, unless otherwise defined in the specifications. This may be working for an employer (where their National Insurance is paid directly from their wages) or in self-employment (where people generally pay their National Insurance themselves).

Confirmation of self-employment is required. A letter evidencing registration with HMRC, bank statement of a trading business account or registration with Companies House must be provided. For more information on ESF evidence requirements please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-funds-programme-guidance

Longer-term Results

Participant in sustained employment (including self-employment) for 26 out of 32 weeks

A further payment will be made for those participants who sustain their employment for a minimum of six months. All sustained employment results must be achieved by the dates stated within each borough’s project specification.

Employment does not necessarily need to be with the same employer for the whole period, but all employment must have clear evidence. It is possible that a participant can have breaks in

31 Employment outcomes can be claimed for participants that enter employment whilst receiving support from the project or within 4 weeks of their last intervention with the project. Leaving a project marks a stage in the participant’s progression and should not be a marker for the end of project support to the individual or employer. their employment. However for each sustained result a minimum of 26 weeks of 32 weeks is required and must be achieved by the dates stated within each project specification.

**Participant tracking and on-going support**

Successful projects will be expected to maintain support and track participants on the programme.

Projects will need to explain within the grant document their methods and proposal for the support and tracking of participants and details of any in-work support or employer interventions they will deliver.

Results can only be claimed once participants leave the project.

**Submission of a final evaluation**

You will be responsible for commissioning an independent, external evaluation of the impact of the project, at the end of the project. You will be required to support and contribute to this assessment. Applicants must provide for the cost of the evaluation within the budget submitted as part of the application. The final project payment will be contingent on submission of the evaluation.

**‘Soft’ outcomes**

Recognising individuals’ personal achievements, or soft outcomes, is an important part of helping people towards finding suitable employment. These ‘soft outcomes’ include for example, helping people to acquire greater self-confidence in their potential or taking steps to overcome barriers to employment.

You will be expected to measure the ‘distance travelled’ (progress/improvements made) by participants while on the project, based on prior assessment and recording of suitable steps-(work carried out by project to achieve participant improvements). This may take the form of progress reports or self-assessment questionnaires. As mentioned you will be expected to compile a final evaluation on your project at project close, which will include an assessment of soft outcomes for participants. You should therefore ensure that you collect information on soft outcomes for each participant throughout the lifetime of the project.

**5. Added value**

London Councils and ESF wish to support projects that could not be delivered without its funding and which bring additional benefits to local provision and individuals. This is called ‘added value’.

Your project may provide added value because it increases the number of people who receive the support they need to move towards work, or, because it allows you to do more for people than would otherwise be permitted by other funding streams. Alternatively, this funding may allow you to continue existing activity which would otherwise be cut back or it may allow you to develop new activities or to fill a gap in provision.

Subject to the eligibility criteria in Section 3, organisations which receive a grant from any London Councils or ESF grants programme are welcome to apply for funding under this programme. However, your application should make very clear what additional activity, outputs or achievements you will deliver through this project. Organisations which have previously received a London Councils grant should note that, unlike other grants, the programme cannot fund general organisational costs, only those which relate solely to the cost of the ESF funded project.

**ESF Employment Support Programmes**

Where possible applicants are expected to work with other London ESF Programmes’ providers, some of which are managed by organisations such as:

- Big Lottery
- Skills Fund Agency
- Department for Work & Pensions
- Local Authorities
- Greater London Authority

Details of their provisions can be found at: https://lep.london/sites/default/files/20160523_Summary_of_ESF_Provision.pdf

https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/global-content/programmes/england/building-better-opportunities/london

You must ensure there is no duplication of participants or activities with the above ESF programmes in London. 6. Partnership working

London Councils wishes to support effective partnership working in project delivery. In particular, we strongly advise delivery organisations to work with partners where complementary expertise is required to deliver a full package of support. For example, where specialist training outside of the provider’s core competencies is required, we would prefer that this provision be outsourced to an experienced specialist provider, rather than providers attempting to establish a new training resource.

You are also expected to form partnerships with other deliverers in order to recruit people from all target groups. You will be scored accordingly. So please take time to secure agreements with other providers – failure to not detail how all target groups will be recruited and assisted will mean your application may fail.

We expect that providers will have established, or be in the final stages of establishing, partnerships prior to submitting their application. All providers intending to work in formal partnership (i.e. where the Applicant, as lead partner, will be paying other partners) must submit partnership agreements with their application which formalise roles and responsibilities within the partnership.

As a minimum, a partnership agreement should contain sections on:

- who the partners are
- roles and responsibilities of each partner
- the timescale for delivery
- equal opportunities (that the partner must ensure equality of opportunity in line with the lead partner’s equal opportunities policy and London Councils and ESF requirements)
- the other cross-cutting themes: sustainable development and health
- monitoring (including which information the partner is required to keep and how often they are expected to report to the lead partner)
- Risks/ mitigation/ contingency plans/ non-delivery/ dispute resolution
- Audit (that the project will be subject to audit)
- Management of partnership (e.g. steering group, partnership meetings)
- Due diligence check of partner organisations (including are they solvent, eligible for London Councils funding)
- termination
- finance and payments (including how much money will be paid to the partner organisation by the lead organisation, what the money will cover)
- deadlines for reporting to the lead partner
- It is the lead partner's responsibility to ensure it holds all records relating to any aspect of delivery of the project (including those of partners) until December 2026. This is in line with ESF rules on document retention in ESF Programme Guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-funds-programme-guidance.
- Publicity Branding and publicity requirements for the 2014 to 2020 European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund

This type of agreement ensures that project delivery by project partners takes place as discussed and ensures that each partner is clear about what it needs to achieve as part of the project. 7. Submitting an application

Gateway questions

All applicants are required to complete a short series of gateway questions in order to determine their eligibility for funding. See Annex A. These will appear as the first stage of the application process once you have created an account. See below for details.

If an application does not satisfy these questions, it will be considered ineligible. In such cases, the application and its annexes will not be scored.

Before you begin writing your application

The funded projects within the London Councils’ ESF Borough Employment Programme support the strategic objectives and priorities outlined in the London 2014-2020 ESIF Strategy and the ESF European Operational Programme 2014-2020.

As a result, there are certain conditions for this funding which are outlined in the previous and following sections. Please read this guidance carefully before completing the application and consult us (please see our contact details in Section 19) if anything is unclear.

If your organisation has previously applied for funding from London Councils, you are welcome to reapply in this round. However, please note that some changes have been made to the application form and to the process itself, as well as to the way in which London Councils will fund projects under this Round.

If you have any queries relating to the project specifications and how to apply, please contact one of the London Councils ESF officers. If you need further guidance or support in putting together your application, you may contact London Voluntary Service Council (LVSC). They are planning to run 1:1 surgeries and workshops. It may be necessary to make an appointment to speak to LVSC and applicants are treated on a first come first served basis. Applications for the London Councils ESF Borough Employment Programme 2016-2018 have to be submitted through an online application process:

https://www.grantrequest.com/SID_668/Default.asp?SA=SNA&FID=35071

Deadline for all applications: 12 noon, 23rd January 2017

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered for any reason.

Leave yourself enough time to complete, review and amend the information you provide, upload the required documents and submit your online form before the deadline. Deadline days are often busy and you may not be able to reach a member of London Councils staff if you have any technical queries with submitting the form.

All applications must be submitted through the online form and the Annexes provided on the Programme’s website, which, together with the prospectus, can be downloaded from here:

http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/grants/esf

The application form includes guidance for each section you need to complete and Annexes you need to upload.

Each scored sections will indicate the maximum available score. Please note that your application includes the completion of the Risk Register and Track Record. These are also scored as standalone sections. All other attachments are not scored separately; however, they will support some of the scored sections and will be considered during the assessment process.

The person scoring your application can only assess the information stated in your application. You must assume that they know nothing about your organisation, or the needs of your community, so be clear about what activities you are going to do and for whom. There will be no cross references of answers and each answer should be completed fully, as responses for any one question cannot be secured from an answer included for any other question.

Things to remember about your online form

Once you have created a log-in to our form, you can save your on-line application at any point and come back to it later.

Once you have saved your on-line application you can open and change the form from any computer.

Help: If you need further assistance/information.

• Firstly read this guidance section. • Secondly refer to the FAQs (these will be updated regularly) http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/grants/esf-programme/documents

• Thirdly if you still have not been able to find an answer then please email us. Your question and our response will be posted on the FAQs page. Please send your questions before 16th January 2017 as we may be unable to answer questions after that date.

Completing your online application form

i. Step one: Create an account login and access the online form

Click on the following link

https://www.grantrequest.com/SID_668/Default.asp?SA=SNA&FID=35071

to create a login and access a new form, (or copy and paste into your internet address bar).

Now you will see this screen, where you create your account and login.

- Click on ‘New Applicant’
- You will be taken to a new page

New Applicant?

An account allows you to access your saved and submitted applications at any time. It also allows us to send you a submission confirmation e-mail and notify you if additional information is necessary to process your application.

E-mail

Confirm E-mail

Password (minimum of 5 characters)

Confirm Password

Continue

- Enter your email address. The email address must work as we will be using this to contact you about your application and you need it to access a form that you have already started. • Verify your email address (by typing it again)

• Create a password. It must be at least five letters long - for example - ‘Lychee’.

• Verify password (by typing it again)

• Click on the button marked ‘continue’ and you will move straight into the online form.

You must remember your email address and password as you will need it every time you log into your account.

You can save and close your form, by clicking on ‘save and finish later’ now and at any time and return to the form by accessing your account.

To return to your account (where you can access forms already started) click on: http://www.GrantRequest.com/SID_668

ii. Step two: Complete the online form

This part of the guidance includes details on how to complete the online application form.

1. Technical help for using the online form

The information below will take you through how to use the online form to answer the questions.

For most of the form you are asked to simply type your answers into a box under the question.

Sometimes you are required to tick a box, select from options or upload a document. The guidance on completing each section is included within the question, upload area or the set template.

You will only be able to write in plain text within the answer boxes, therefore you will not be able to use formatting features (e.g. bolding, underlining, resizing and spacing). You can structure your text by adding line breaks and empty rows. Please bear in mind that scorers will have large amounts of information to process, and that it is in your interest to be as clear and concise as possible.

Mandatory fields

You must answer all questions marked with a purple diamond. If you do not answer these questions you will not be able to submit your application.

Spell check

Where you see a red tick you can click on it to perform a spell check.

Word limit There is a word limit to some questions. Where this is the case the counter will show you how many words are left from the total allowed. Please note that row breaks will not count toward the word count.

**Attachments** You will be required to upload a number of attachments to your application form.

Before you can attach the documents online you need electronic versions of your documents saved onto your computer. Retain the original format and file extension for all the set templates. If you don’t have electronic copies of other documents to be uploaded (e.g. Constitution) then you can scan the paper copies and save them in a folder on your computer. The maximum size for all attachments combined is 50MB. Files with .exe .com .vbs or .bat will not upload.

Uploading a document is similar to attaching a document to an email.

- To do this click on the ‘browse’ button next to the attachment you wish to upload.
- This will take you to documents on your pc/network. Search for the correct folder.
- Select the correct document and click ‘open’.
- Now click on the button ‘upload’.
- **If you do not click ‘upload’ your document will not be uploaded to the form.**
- If you have uploaded the wrong document simply click on ‘remove’.

2. **How to save, print and return to your form**

**Saving your work**

Once you are into the question part of the form you can save what you’ve done and come back to it at any point by pressing the ‘save and finish later’ button.

We strongly advise you to save your form as you go along. If you have not saved and your computer crashes you will lose all your work.

Once you have saved your work you will be taken to this screen (below). Simply click on your application and carry on working. To return to your form

Click on the following link.

https://www.GrantRequest.com/SID_668

Log into your account using the email and password you created at the log in stage. You will see the screen above. To go back to your un-submitted application make sure the drop down menu states ‘In Progress Applications’ click onto the link to go back to your form.

If you have submitted your form you can still view it as a link under the ‘Submitted Applications’ in the drop down menu.

To print

Click Save and finish, come back to your form. Click on button ‘printer friendly version’ to print.

Please note you always need to click ‘save’ before printing your application so that your most up to date version prints out.

Do not send us your printed version; simply use it to check your work. London Councils can only accept online applications (unless in exceptional circumstances in which we ask that you please contact us in advance, and within deadline date.

Additionally, if you are a disability led organisation and need additional time to complete the application process, London Councils need to be informed of this within deadline date. Where an extension is awarded, London Councils will do this in writing before the standard submittal deadline.

3. Completing the form – questions

The online application form is divided into five main sections:

1. Introduction;

2. Your organisation;

3. Your project summary;

4. Your project delivery;

5. Declaration.

6. Introduction The form starts with introductory text covering the assessment of applications. Please read this carefully.

The information below will give you guidance on the information required to answer each question.

Documents you will need:

- Most attachments are compulsory to complete the application. These are marked with the sign; ✶
- Some attachments only apply if your proposed project has delivery partners

2. Your organisation

Give details of the lead organisation applying for the funding on this page of the application form.

You will also need to upload:

- a signed and dated copy of your constitution or memorandum and articles of association and
- a copy of your public and employer’s liability insurance certificates on this page.

3. Your project summary

Provide general information about your project on this page. This includes the:

- project title;
- specification you are applying for;
- delivery start and end dates;
- project summary;
- delivery partner details (including attachments if applicable);
- contact details for referee.

4. Declaration

This is the final page of the form.

You must select ‘yes’ from the drop down menu if you agree that:

- You have read and understood the information contained in the London Councils Application Prospectus; o the proposed activity is within the objects of your organisation's constitution; o London Councils will share the application form and its contents with the participating boroughs and the City of London Corporation; o this application has the support of your organisation's governing committee/board of trustees/senior management; o all the information you have supplied is accurate; o the information you have supplied about the proposed service is a realistic indication of what your organisation could achieve.

**IMPORTANT:**

You must select ‘YES’ for your application to be assessed.

**Requirements**

We are not permitted to consider any additional information received after the application deadline so please make sure that you have included all the required information and attachments.

If you are aware that submitting an application may give rise to a potential conflict of interest please inform the London Councils. A conflict of interest maybe where you are related to a member or staff officer of London Councils or you have privileged information about London Councils that places you at an unfair advantage over other applicants in the application process.

London Councils is subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. You should be aware that the information you submit may be subject to a request for information from the public and London Councils may be required to provide information to external parties.

**Data protection**

Part or all of the information you give us will be held on computer and used for statistical purposes. It will also be used for the administration of applications and awards. We may provide copies of the information in confidence to individuals or organisations that are helping us assess applications or monitor funding. We may also be required to provide information contained in your application if we receive freedom of information request.

**Finishing the form**

- Now you are at the end of the form you may:

  - You may wish to save and finish later. You may wish to print a copy to proof read it and save it.
  - When you are ready to submit – click on ‘review and submit’
  - If you have left any mandatory fields blank, or submitted the wrong kind of information (for example text in a box that can only accept numbers) a list of errors will appear in red as below. The red warning sign and red text will then appear next to any field that you need to amend.

- **IMPORTANT:** Once you have amended the fields, click on the button marked ‘**update**’ or the changes will not be saved.

- Once you have amended the fields and clicked ‘update’ a final version will appear for you to review.

- Once you are happy click on the button marked ‘**submit**’

- You will be taken to your account page, where you will see the following message. Important information

You must click ‘submit’ to send each application.

You will automatically be sent a confirmation email with a copy of your submitted form.

If you do not receive a confirmation email, you have not submitted your online form correctly.

Please check and submit again.

Once submitted you cannot amend your form but you can view it through your account. 8. **Horizontal Principles** (Formerly Cross Cutting Themes)

London Councils’ ESF Programme 2014–2020 will focus on the ESF Investment Priority 1:

**Inclusive labour Markets to** Improving the employability and skills of the unemployed and economically inactive people.

There are also two Horizontal Principles that must be addressed in each funded project: Sustainable Development and Equal Opportunities and Non-Discrimination.

**Sustainable development**

The Sustainable Development principle of social, economic and environmental organisational responsibilities builds on the approach adopted in the 2007-2013 ESF programme and lessons learned during that programme.

These sustainable developments were defined as developments which provided:

- skills that businesses demand and require – now and in the future (support for the economy by expanding the labour market);
- opportunities to allow everyone to fulfil their potential (support for social justice); and
- environmental protection and enhancement through the delivery of projects (support for the environment).

The objectives for ESF Programme 2014-2020 will be pursued in line with the Sustainable Development principle, including the aim of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment as well as the need to prepare for expected changes to the environment and climate.

London Council’s ESF Borough Employment programme will also support the Social Responsibility aspect of the Principle by achieving progress that recognises the needs of everyone and assists participants towards social inclusion and independent living through employment.

Therefore project providers must have sustainable development governance, policies and implementation plans that explain:

a) their commitment to promoting sustainable development and complying with relevant EU and domestic environmental legislation; and

b) how the commitment will be turned into action at project level.

During the life time of each ESF Borough Employment project, London Councils and GLA will be assessing compliance to these policies and plans.

Projects will be monitored and this will include basic checks such as ensuring that sustainable development policies and implementation plans are in place and that appropriate action is being taken to implement them.

Therefore your application should demonstrate an understanding of the need for good environmental performance and management in keeping with the ethos and achievement of sustainable development in the UK. All projects will be required to consider impact in relation to; energy, water, waste, purchasing and transport. You should also demonstrate how you will integrate relevant aspects of sustainable development into courses you run and/or use the environment as a medium for training delivery. You are required to provide a copy of your sustainable development and/or environmental policy at the application stage. If your organisation doesn’t have a sustainable development policy, please include a statement with your application explaining that the organisation does not yet have a sustainable development policy. Any organisation selected for London Councils ESF Borough Employment Programme funding that does not yet have a sustainable development policy will be required to implement such a policy by the end of the first year of delivery.

**Equal opportunities and non-discrimination**

London Councils’ ESF Borough Employment Programme will also promote equal opportunities and non-discrimination. All delivery partners will be required to adhere to the principles and processes set out in EU and UK equality legislation.

The principles promote equality into the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of ESF funded activity:

- no exclusion on the grounds of protected characteristics;
- projects are designed to meet the needs of all potential participants;
- services are responsive to the needs of all communities and under-represented groups;
- support is targeted towards under-represented communities where relevant;
- responsiveness to, and inclusiveness of, under-represented groups in delivery and management.

ESF’s 2014-20 programme builds on the lessons learned from the ESF 2007-13 programmes, including the findings of an evaluation of the mainstreaming of gender equality and equal opportunities within the ESF in England in 2010(^\\text{32}). The lessons learnt can be found in research published in 2011 that focussed on the engagement of women in ESF provision(^\\text{33}) and an evidence report published in August 2013 on helping disabled people.

As a result there is good practice guidance in promoting gender equality. It includes a checklist that will be used to help inform core criteria for project selection along with other equality-related criteria.

The principles of equal opportunities is embedded in London Councils’ project selection arrangements, grant performance management and monitoring.

In support of the principles, the ESF Borough Employment programme will target groups such as the long term unemployed people, inactive people, lone parents, disabled people, people from ethnic minorities, and older people, and we have set output targets to ensure that we help appropriate numbers of these people. The strategy section makes clear that as the economy improves our focus will increasingly be on those who face multiple disadvantages.

All ESF activities should be accessible to disabled people and responsive to their needs. The investment priorities on access to employment and active inclusion can support activities focused on improving the employability of disabled people and those with health conditions. Active inclusion will help those furthest from employment and who often experience other disadvantages.

______________________________________________________________________

(^{32}) Evaluation of Gender Equality & Equal Opportunities within the European Social Fund by Carol McNaughton Nicholls, Martin Mitchell, Ashley Brown, Nulifer Rahim, Emma Drever and Cheryl Lloyd

(^{33}) Skills Funding Agency: Engaging unemployed women in ESF funded training: research by National Institute of Adult Continuing Education for the Skills Funding Agency. September 2011 People from ethnic minorities should be able to access ESF provision in all investment priorities. Interventions must be tailored to the needs of people from different ethnic minority groups in each locality, and where appropriate targeted on specific groups. There is a strong case for interventions targeted at groups with low employment and high inactivity rates in the access to employment and active inclusion investment priorities, e.g. women of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin, especially in areas with high concentrations of people from ethnic minorities.

Activities in the access to employment, active inclusion and access to lifelong learning investment priorities will respond to the needs of older people. Specific activities will be delivered to help improve the participation of older women, depending on local needs.

**Equality between men and women**

Although female participation in the English labour market has increased, there is still a gender gap in employment of 11.7% with a male employment rate of 81.6% and a female rate of 69.9% (for those aged 20-64). Part of the gap can be attributed to different levels of inactivity in the labour market (26.1% for women and 13.5% for men, aged 20-64 in England). Labour Force Survey (LFS) data show that, at a UK level, 25% of economically inactive women would be interested in working.

The Officer for National Statistics (ONS) report ‘Women in the Labour Market’ (2013) explained that the low ranking for female employment rates in London and Birmingham was linked to the diverse ethnic population with some women not in work due to looking after families. Looking at the most recent city data, Birmingham has the lowest employment rate for women (55.9% for women aged 16-64). Help should be aimed at inactive women from ethnic minorities in England’s cities, including those with caring responsibilities (child or elder care) and who are multiply disadvantaged.

The extension of the state pension age for women has increased the number of older women in the scope of unemployment. Since 2010 there are more older (over 50) women in work and more looking for work – employment is up 655,000 and unemployment up 14,000 (UK figures). Disadvantaged older women should be targeted for support if they wish to find work (or stay in work).

Some women want to work longer hours. There are 4.8 million females in England who work part-time and 1.5 million males. The majority work part-time because they want to – figures are not available for England but at a UK level, only 743,000 out of 6.07 million women (12.2%) work part-time because they couldn't find a full-time job.

London Council and ESF funding within this Borough Employment programme will be used to help address these issues. Activities for ESF support should include innovative outreach and holistic support with a vocational focus. Providers must consider activities and support for at least one of these groups:

- Inactive women from ethnic minorities, including those with child or elder care responsibilities, and who are often multiply disadvantaged. Barriers include: childcare; lack of skills or work experience due to starting family at a young age; no opportunity to acquire skills before starting a family.

- Lone parents. Barriers include: inflexible jobs/employers (poor work/life balance), concerns about possible financial instability and lack of skills/recent skills. Examples of activities to be supported include job search skills, vocational training, remedial training and basic skills support. • Disadvantaged older unemployed women. Barriers include age discrimination, low confidence and elder care responsibilities. Activities to be supported include job search training, skills refresher training and mentoring/confidence building.

• Women who are inactive but who would be interested in working. Barriers include lack of motivation and confidence, lack of skills, outdated skills and difficulties in travelling to work. Activities to be supported include confidence building support, job-search training, job-specific training, work experience and mentoring support.

• Women seeking career advancement and/or progressing from part-time to full-time work, or at least increasing their hours at work. Barriers include seasonal work, sectors with a high concentration of part-time work and age (younger people are more likely to be underemployed). Activities to be supported include upskilling/vocational qualifications and identifying progression routes. (Investment Priority 2.1)

Project applicants submitting applications will be required to explain how they will actively promote gender equality through the design and delivery of their projects. For example, a grant application for in-work training should require the applicant organisation to explain how it will ensure that female employees will have access to support, including those who may be working part-time and/or have childcare needs.

Providers targeting disadvantaged people and other groups are also required under the Equality Act 2010 to do so with a corresponding gender focus. This will include actively encouraging more women to take part in the programme, as well as making sure that the type and nature of support offered is appropriate and helps meet the needs of women, including disadvantaged women.

Programme providers will be expected to consider the needs of women in a number of key areas of design and delivery of their services, for example by:

• promoting gender equality throughout their recruitment process; • offering information, advice and guidance; • providing or procuring childcare support where this might be a barrier to participation; • ensuring that the structure and content of the activities delivered are suitable and appropriate for women and men; • ensuring that provision is accessible, flexible and gender-sensitive where necessary.

London Councils will ensure that there is regular monitoring of the participation rates for women and men. Results data will also be monitored and reported to GLA’s European Performance Management Unit (EPMU). 9. Monitoring and reporting on your project

London Councils has to report to the Managing Authority for ESF on the progress of the ESF programme each quarter as part of the procedure for claiming funds. These reports will include data on participants, on project activities and on total expenditure.

Successful applicants will therefore be required to submit reports at the end of each quarter. These reports will enable London Councils to meet the ESF and its own reporting requirements but will also form the basis for monitoring your project progress and achievements. Organisations will be given full advice in the pre-agreement phase on the information that must be recorded and reported and the implications for project procedures and systems.

**Employability Performance Rating**

ESF funded projects in London are also required to implement the Employability Performance Rating system. The Performance Rating is a comprehensive tool to benchmark the achievements of employability delivered by service providers in London. The rating system awards a rating of between four and zero stars against three key areas: Grant Performance, Quality and Grant Compliance.

| Key Area (KPA) | Weighting of the KPA | Indicators | Weighting of Indicator | |-------------------------|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------|------------------------| | Grant Performance | 60% | • Delivery against grant targets | 48% | | | | • Delivery against grant diversity targets | 12% | | Quality | 30% | • Conversion Factor | 12% | | | | • Self-assessment of quality | 9% | | | | • Participant Satisfaction | 9% | | Grant Compliance | 10% | • Grant compliance and provider pro-activity | 10% |

The Performance Rating is collected from funded projects quarterly with results made public and published biannually on the London Datastore (http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/lepr-esf-2014-20).

More information regarding the Employability Performance Rating requirements will be provided during the grant agreement process and the reporting systems will be provided to you. However an overview of the requirements can be found here: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/lepr-esf-2014-20 10. Financial information

London Councils ESF programmes pay providers on the basis of unit prices per output and result. In other words, your project will be paid for the delivery of certain pre-specified outputs and results. The budget available for each output and results is fixed and stated in the project specification along with the specification descriptions.

Please note that London Councils expects that your intended project delivery activities are not dependent on other sources of funding. By planning your delivery on the basis of actual costs, your organisation should be able to compare the anticipated budget for delivering the specification with the funding available. Please note that unless otherwise stated in the specification, the funding and, where appropriate, the number of outputs/results represent the maximum funding available.

Please also note that London Councils reserves the right, in agreement with the participating boroughs, to reduce or increase the value of the grant by up to 100% in line with performance.

You will be required to submit a project budget as part of your application. Whilst you will be paid on the basis of grant agreement costs, London Councils’ assessors will be looking at your project budget to check that your application represents value for money, and that all costs included are ESF eligible. Assessors will also be checking to see that you have included enough staff in your budget to deliver the project. In addition, assessors will be checking that you have included adequate provision for participant support measures such as childcare and also for publicity. Your budget is part of your application for funding and will be scored as such.

Staff costs In this section of the application form you should provide details of all the costs that relate to staffing your project. List the job title of the staff member involved and a short explanation of how the cost was calculated. If there are any other costs relating to staff (e.g. travel, subsistence etc.) you should include them in this section. You should give a brief explanation of how you calculated your costs, to enable assessors to clearly understand what is being applied for.

For example -

| Item | Calculation | Amount | |-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------|---------| | Trainer | 5hrs per month x 9 months x £16 per hr | £720 | | Travel to outreach centre | 1 person x £3 x 2 per wk x 34 weeks | £204 |

Participant costs In this section of the application form you should provide details of all the costs relating to items that you will provide to participants. For example, childcare, out of pocket travel costs, allowances, refreshments, equipment that participants may need for training (e.g. protective clothing), and so on. All entries should be itemised and calculations shown to explain the costs.

For example:

| Item | Calculation | Amount | |-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------|---------| | Childcare/carer allowance | £50 per wk x 7 people x 34 weeks | £11,900 | | Travel | 10 people x £3 x 3 per wk x 34 weeks | £3,060 | London Councils expects all projects to provide child or dependent care for participants as required in order to enable them to access the programme.

**Other costs**

In this section of the application form you should provide details of any other costs of your project, which do not relate to staff or participants. This will include other direct and indirect costs of the project, for example, small items of equipment, exam fees, publicity materials, postage, photocopying etc. Indirect costs, which are shared organisational costs e.g. rent, utilities, that cannot be connected directly to project activity and which are difficult to attribute to the project may be claimed but must be apportioned appropriately. Indirect project costs cannot represent more than 15% of the proposed budget.

**Eligible items of expenditure**

Funding can cover all the running costs of your project as long as they are ESF eligible (please see ESF National Eligibility rules [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-funds-programme-guidance](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-funds-programme-guidance)) and you list them in your application. When budgeting, if some items are used for both this project and your other activities, you should apportion the cost as appropriate.

This funding does not cover capital expenditure; it only covers the costs associated with setting up and running your project. However you are permitted to include the purchase of small items of equipment under the value of £1000 per item which are necessary for the delivery of your project.

**11. Publicity arrangements**

ESF funding carries requirements to adhere to the ESF 2014-20 publicity guidance:

- ensure that potential and actual participants, project partners, and employers, are aware of the source of support;
- publicise project successes; and
- participate as far as is practicable in London and national ESF publicity initiatives, including providing information for public directories of projects.

For example, London Councils and ESF logos should be present on all information and forms given to participants and included in all project publicity produced. Further guidance on publicity will be given to successful applicants.

All publicity materials developed to advertise or promote the project will need to be made available for inspection and approved prior to use.

______________________________________________________________________

34 The purchase of a computer is understood to be a maximum of £999 for the complete computer. You cannot claim separately for each component part such as the monitor, keyboard etc. The computer is to be a complete set up. Assessment against criteria

All applications submitted under this round will be carefully assessed against the criteria set out in this guidance and their fit with the stated objectives will be judged. The Project’s proposed outputs and value for money will also be assessed e.g. assessors will check your budget to see that you have given due consideration to staff numbers and participant costs and the track record of your organisation will be considered. Funds are limited and not all projects that apply will receive funding. It is therefore important that you demonstrate in your project application how your project meets the criteria laid out in this guidance.

Your project must fit the specification outlined in Section 2. Once the assessor is satisfied that your project and organisation is eligible for support, the rest of your application will be scored by awarding points against each of the assessment questions in the Application form. Instructions on completing the application form are included with each question in the application, and should be read carefully before you complete your answer. Each application will be scored separately by two independent assessors. The application form sets out the points available for each part of each question.

Applications will also be assessed against your project’s ability to promote equality and social inclusion as well as sustainable development (Questions C7a) and b) – Horizontal Principles in the Application form). Applicants will therefore be required to score at least 3 marks (out of a possible 6 marks) for Question C7a)-Equal Opportunities and non-discrimination. And score at least 1 mark (out of a possible 6 marks) for Question C7b)-Sustainable development. If you do not achieve at least the minimum marks above for the above questions your application will not proceed.

Please also note that: London Councils reserves the right to interview applicants where clarification on any application is needed.

References

London Councils intends to reference delivery organisations through its network of Borough grants officers, to verify whether the organisation has experience of working within the Boroughs and with the particular participant group relevant to this application.

If you do not consider that the relevant officer has sufficient knowledge of your organisation to provide this reference, please supply details of an alternative referee in the application form.

The appraisal panels

Following scoring, an appraisal panel will be convened to assess each project on the criteria outlined above. The panel will comprise senior representatives from London Councils’ Grants Team. Other participants may be invited to join the appraisal panel should the number of applications warrant this. The appraisal panel will consider each project in score order, taking into account the further factors of value for money and the project’s fit within the strategic framework set out under the plan. The appraisal panel will also work to ensure that projects funded under the programme collectively target the whole range of target groups, that there is a good mix of projects and that there is a fair spread of projects geographically across London. related to need. The panel will consider the geographic coverage of the provision, and coverage will/could be a deciding factor when funding is awarded.

The recommendations from the appraisal panel will then be presented to an independent external panel which will include:

- a representative from a suitable general voluntary sector umbrella organisation;
- other Borough Employment organisations; and
- representatives of the Intermediate Body for ESF in London (the GLA’s European Programmes Management Unit).

The external panel will take a strategic view of the projects submitted, including their duration, previous experience of the project as well as extent to which they contribute to the Pan London funding. This process will ensure that the projects chosen meet these aims and objectives. It will also help to ensure that there is no duplication of activities. Following this panel meeting, results will be made available to applicants. All applicants will be provided with their scores, and unsuccessful projects will be given feedback about the reasons for the decision, if requested in writing. This feedback will include a summary of the assessors’ comments to help clarify the reasons for the decision. Unsuccessful applicants will be given the right of appeal on certain conditions.

Please also note that: London Councils reserves the right to interview applicants where clarification on any application is needed.

The Pre-agreement meeting

The Pre-agreement meeting will take place between the provider, London Councils appointed ESF performance manager and possibly a representative from the borough providing match funding. The meeting aims to outline the London Councils’ project delivery process including:

- Roles and responsibilities between London Councils and your project
- Review working relationships with project partners (include SLAs)
- Confirmation of the outputs and results your project will deliver
- Agreement of the Project’s Delivery Schedule
- Review Risk Register and intended actions to manage risks
- Explain London Councils’ ESF monitoring and payment arrangements
- Confirm evidence requirements for expenditure, outputs and results
- Confirm evaluation requirements
- Confirm publicity requirements
- Confirm General Data Protection Regulation requirements

At the meeting, a list of actions will be drawn up which must be completed before your organisation can be awarded its funding agreement. These will include but are not limited to:

- Your signed project delivery schedule profile
- Your bank details template completed and stamped
- Your Borough Cashflow forecast
- Clarification of any outstanding due diligence issues or issues identified in your application • A signed copy of the Service Level Agreement’s between you and your partners.

12. Appeals

The selection process will be as open, objective and fair as possible but because the amount of funding available through London Councils ESF Programme is limited, only a small number of projects can be supported.

Due to the limited funding available, it is likely that a number of good proposals will not be successful. Most disappointed applicants think that their application deserved a higher score. **No new information can be considered**, but clarification or further explanation of a score or answer will be considered. A complaint based on the fact that the project has been successful in the past will not be investigated further.

If London Councils agrees to consider an appeal the application will be re-scored independently (by people not involved in the original scoring) and re-appraised. This could result in an increase, a decrease or no change in the original total score. If the appeal is successful, London Councils will seek to enter into funding agreement with the provider where possible. 13. Payment arrangements

London Councils provides an advance payment to all funded organisations. Up to 15% of the agreed grant will be paid in advance to providers upon satisfactory completion of funding agreements with London Councils. Payments in the final quarters of delivery will be reduced to take into account the initial first advance payment.

London Councils will then pay providers quarterly in arrears on the basis of project costs. Projects will be paid for the delivery of pre-specified outputs and results. These are described in Section 2 Project Specifications.

Please note: London Councils is generally unable to recover any Value Added Tax charged. Therefore, the maximum sum stated in the project specifications listed above includes any VAT or other taxes charged. Under the provision of item 5A to group 6 of schedule 9 of the VAT Act 1994, the supply of education or vocational training funded by London Councils, and the supply by the person providing that education or training, of any goods or services essential to that provision, is an exempt supply for VAT purposes. In addition, the maximum sum stated in the project specification should include provision for direct costs to participants such as childcare, travel, subsistence, or participant incentives. 14. Contacts

For queries regarding the application process please contact:

Maxine Quintyne-Kolaru, London Councils ESF Priority Manager maxine.quintyne-kolaru@londoncouncils.gov.uk 020 7934 9835

Karen Ferguson, London Councils ESF Borough Employment Programme Manager karen.ferguson@londoncouncils.gov.uk 020 7934 9954

Simon Courage, London Councils Head of Community Services and Grants. simon.courage@londoncouncils.gov.uk 020 7934 9901

Ann Britton, London Councils ESF Performance Manager ann.britton@londoncouncils.gov.uk 020 7934 9952

http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/grants/esf-programme

For other support, including a discussion of your project, please contact:

Support for Bidders

VCS Assist 2.0 is an EU part-funded project supporting voluntary and community sector organisations in London to successfully access the European Social Fund and deliver ESF projects. It succeeds the VCS Assist project which operated during the 2007-2013 ESF Round.

VCS Assist 2.0 project partners, London Voluntary Service Council and the Evelyn Oldfield Unit, will deliver:

- One to one surgeries for organisations intending to apply for or holding ESF funding, providing a range of support from application guidance, complying with ESF requirements and ESF project management

- Workshops focusing on particular skills required for ESF and opportunities

- Forum events, bringing together organisations interested in ESF from across London to share information and provide networking opportunities

- Regular updates on ESF opportunities and progress, including through the vcsassist.org.uk website and monthly e-bulletins. Further queries about the VCS Assist 2.0 programme should be directed to:

**Steve White**, Policy Officer – Employment and Skills\
Stevegwhite.eu@gmail.com\
info@lvsc.org.uk\
020 7832 5811

London Voluntary Service Council (LVSC)\
2nd floor, 200a Pentonville Road\
London N1 9JP

http://www.lvsc.org.uk/ 15. ESF Programme Guidance Documents

This section provides the latest information and guidance documents to help you understand how to develop and deliver ESF compliant projects. All providers should acquaint themselves with these guidance documents.

The latest version of the documents below can be found at the following site:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470206/ESIF_Publicity_Requirements_v2_221015.pdf

Background Information on European Social Funds

ESF Operational Programme for England 2014 to 2020

The European Social Fund Operational Programme sets out the strategy and priorities for use of the Fund to support the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

ESIF Strategy

This document outlines; London’s key areas for ESF (and ERDF) investment against its Jobs and Growth Plan priorities.

Project Delivery Information

Eligibility rules for the 2014 to 2020 European Social Fund

European Social Fund programme guidance

European Social Fund data evidence requirements - eligibility and results guidance

Branding and publicity requirements for the 2014 to 2020 European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund

European Social Fund guidance on document retention

Output and result indicator definitions guidance for the European Social Fund

This prospectus invites applications for ESF grants. It is not a procurement tender, however, providers under the prospectus may procure services and will therefore have to follow ESF procurement guidance:

Procurement law compliance guidance note

Procurement aide memoire for applicants and grant recipients Annex A

Gateway questions:

1. Does your organisation have a Constitution, Memorandum of Association or Articles of Association?

2. Are you organisationally a going concern?

3. Does your organisation have a copy of its most recent signed accounts (audited accounts where required)?

4. Does your organisation have an Equal Opportunities Policy?

5. Does your organisation have a Sustainable Development Policy?

6. Does your organisation have a Health & Safety Policy?

7. Do you commit to taking out the appropriate levels of insurance required to deliver the project?

8. Will you provide the specified services of the project to residents of the boroughs where you are applying to deliver a project in and detailed in the relevant specification/s? (Haringey, Hounslow, Merton and Wandsworth)?

9. Can you provide evidence that your organisation has policies in place that adhere to the data protection act?

Failure to provide any of the documents or other evidence specified may result in your application being not pursued.

Should your application be successful, the provision of and our approval of, your organisation’s child and adult safeguarding policies will also be a condition of grant funding.